The automaker, which currently sells the ZS EV, has invested Rs 600-700 crore in the development of Comet, which will be rolled out from its plant in Gujarat.
MG Motor India aims to have 30 percent of its sales from electric vehicles (EVs) this year, with the launch of its new two-door electric vehicle Comet next month. According to President-Managing Director Rajeev Chaba, the company expects to sell around 80,000-90,000 units from its two electric models.
The automaker, which currently sells the ZS EV, has invested Rs 600-700 crore in the development of Comet, which will be rolled out from its plant in Gujarat. The company aims to gradually ramp up production capacity to around 3,000 units a month in response to the expected robust demand for Comet.
Chaba stated that the sales of EVs are set to rise dramatically in India, and are expected to touch 1.2 lakh units this year, compared to around 50,000 units last year.
He also noted that electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales are accounting for 30 percent of the overall new sales in China, 20 percent in Europe, and 10 percent in the US market. Although the EV penetration in India is currently less than 2 percent, Chaba believes that it will continue to go up, and the tipping point would be when the penetration levels reach 10 percent and there are more choices for consumers around the Rs 10 lakh price range.
Chaba added that MG Motor has already sold around 10,000 units of ZS EV, and expects the sales of the model to touch 1,000 units a month soon. The company has been able to increase the installed manufacturing capacity at its Halol-based plant to 1.2 lakh units a year from 60,000 units in the erstwhile GM regime.
Chaba noted that the company hit break-even in March this year and expects to make a little bit of money this year if it sells 80,000-1 lakh units.
Comet comes with a 17.3 KWH Li-ion battery and can be fully charged in around 7 hours. It is well suited for intra-city 'practical' usage and can run for around 230 km on a single charge. The cost of ownership is expected to be very economical, according to Chaba.
The car comes with automatic transmission, front two airbags, and a reverse parking camera among various other features.
The company, which is a wholly-owned arm of China's SAIC Motor Corp, will discourage buyers who do a lot of inter-city trips from purchasing the car.
With agency inputs.
First Published: Apr 23, 2023 3:35 PM IST
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