In a statement Anish Shah, the CEO of Indian auto major Mahindra and Mahindra group said, it will explore sourcing more components from other companies to boost its electric vehicle (EV) portfolio.

While earlier Mahindra had focussed on developing EV components in-house, it is now changing tactics to forge partnerships to achieve faster growth in the segment.

Last week, Mahindra signed a partnership agreement with Volkswagen it will explore equipping its electric cars with motors, battery system components and cells made by the German automaker.

“The world is moving towards a lot more partnerships. It’s better to source the best that’s out there, rather than do everything ourselves,” said Shah in an interview at the World Economic Forum summit at Davos. “It’s VW (Volkswagen) at this stage and as we see similar strengths in other areas, we are open to looking at various components that we would bring in, and do what we are very good at in-house as well”.

Mahindra faces a tough competition from its peer Tata Motors in India where the clean mobility sector is increasing market acceptance at a rapid pace.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is offering companies billions of dollars in incentives to build EVs as India is pushing ahead to meet its climate change and carbon reduction goals.

Currently, although India’s EV market represents just 1% of the country’s annual sales of about 3 million vehicles, there is a rapid shift in consumer behaviour.

In 2021, Tata, which dominates India’s EV market, raised $1 billion from TPG for MG Motor India, which is owned by China’s SAIC Motor. It also plans on raising funds to develop its EV business.

“Mahindra will use significant funds for EVs. We always will be open to value creation opportunities,” said Shah.

While Mahindra has developed a portfolio of EV commercial vehicles in India, its latest push is focussed on passenger cars, and more particularly, sports utility vehicles (SUVs). “Our strike zone has been authentic SUVs, that’s where we are going to stay … we are not going to make EV sedans, no hatchbacks,” said Shah.

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Tags: Anish Shah, automobiles, automotives, carbon reduction, CEO, clean mobility, climate change, components, consumer behaviour, electric vehicle, EV, EV components, growth, in house, incentives, India, Indian, M&M, Mahindra and Mahindra, market acceptance, Narendra Modi, partnerships, portfolio, Prime Minister, Tata Motors, Volkswagen