How Mahindra plans to tackle Tesla challenge: Anand Mahindra reveals plans

An user on the social media platform ‘X’, asked Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group, about his strategy to handle the competition. Mahindra in his typical witful way answered, “We have been asked similar questions ever since the opening up of the Indian economy in 1991.”

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In 1991 when India shifted its focus towards liberalization, privatization and globalization, it opened doors to India for many of the foreign players. In the automotive market, abolishment of auto licensing allowed vehicle makers to manufacture as many units of their vehicles as they wanted, thus allowing foreign automobile manufacturers to pony up in the Indian market with ease. This basically opened the floodgates to global players like Hyundai, Daewoo, Ford, and General Motors, bringing with them new technologies, designs, and ways of manufacturing.

Responding to the question asked on ‘X’, Mahindra further stated that despite the increased competition in 1991, the company has survived and is going strong. He added, “And working like maniacs to still be around & relevant even a century from now. With you cheering us on, we will make that happen…”

Mahindra’s electrification journey: From Reva to BE 6 and XEV 9e

Mahindra had started its electrification journey back in 2010 by acquiring Reva Electric Car Company, which had launched the country’s first EV, Reva, in 2001. Later in 2013, Mahindra introduced the e2o which was the next gen version of the Reva.

Following this, the Mahindra eVerito was launched in 2016 while in 2022, the Mahindra XUV400 was introduced. While all these models were rather unsuccessful for the company, Mahindra is betting big with the BE 6 and the XEV 9e, its first born electric vehicles.

The Mahindra BE 6 and the XEV 9e were launched in November 2024, underpinning the company’s INGLO platform. With these models and the upcoming ones under the BE and the XEV brands, Mahindra plans to go global.

Also Read : Mahindra aims to scale up car business globally; eyes more markets with new models

Both the Mahindra XEV 9e and the BE 6 come with two battery pack option – 59 kWh and 79 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) units. Both these battery packs are capable of DC fast charging at a rate of up to 175 kW, allowing the battery to be charged from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in a claimed 20 minutes.

Mahindra claims that the BE 6 is capable of achieving a distance of up to 535 km when equipped with its 59 kWh battery pack, while the 79 kWh variant is said to offer a range of 682 km. In contrast, the XEV 9e is reported to have a range of 542 km with the 59 kWh battery and 656 km with the 79 kWh battery pack.

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First Published Date: 18 Feb 2025, 15:14 PM IST