Mahindra Electric open to investments; might launch EV with Ford, says Pawan Goenka

The Union government has been pushing for electric vehicles on Indian roads. Further, in a bid to reduce vehicle pollution, the automakers in the country will be switching to the BS-VI emission norms from the existing BS-IV later this year.

Goenka said that it important for the EV business to scale and Mahindra will need strategic investments to that end.

“Scale for EVs is very important and we would be sub scale if we do everything on our own. To get larger volumes and reduce cost we need strategic investments,” Goenka said. “We are in conversations with investors.”

However, he added that an initial public offering (IPO) for Mahindra Electric is very far in the future.

“It is too early to talk about an IPO, we need to first work on profitability and bring down our stake … IPO for Mahindra Electric is very far away."

Goenka revealed that Mahindra might bring out an electric vehicle in collaboration with the American car major Ford. But he clarified that Mahindra is looking for an alliance partner and not to get into a joint venture.

“We may bring out an electric vehicle jointly with Ford,” he said. Mahindra Electric may have an alliance but the company is not looking at a JV just for EVs, he added.