MG Motor India has announced that it has invested around Rs 800 crore to produce Comet EV locally at its plant in Halol, Gujarat.
The company anticipates a strong response and will be gradually ramping up the production of this two-door electric car to around 3,000 units a month.
With the Comet EV due to roll out in the coming days, this will be the second electric vehicle (EV) by the British carmaker after the ZS EV, which was launched in India in 2020.
Rajeev Chaba, MG Motor India President and MD, during a round table interaction with reporters, claimed that the Comet has a range of 230 kms on a single charge and was well suited for intra-city ‘practical’ usage. In his view, the cost of ownership is going to be very economical.
“If you are driving 1,000 kms a month, then you need to charge the car just five times. A single charge can do about 200 kms. Assuming that the electricity cost is Rs 6 per unit, you just need to spend Rs 500 for 1,000 kms a month. It means the cost of running this car is less than a pizza, or a PVR ticket, or two cups of coffee,” emphasized Chaba. He also stated, “As per our survey, people spend Rs 5,000 a month for petrol. In addition to that, maintenance costs are also huge.”
During the product unveil, MG Motor India announced that the Comet will be equipped with a 17.3 KWH li-ion battery and can be fully charged in around seven hours.
While the product’s price points were not disclosed, it is expected to be in the Rs 10-12 lakh range (ex-showroom). It will be equipped with automatic transmission, two front airbags, and reverse parking camera, among other things.
Chaba that the company would not be catering to buyers who do a lot of inter-city trips, and nor will it be looking at fleet operators.
“We will start taking bookings for the Comet from May 15. We are going to be very serious about not selling this car to certain categories of people. Nor are we going to reach out to fleet operators just to push volumes,” Chaba said.
As it gears up to introduce the Comet next month, MG Motor India says it expects 30 percent of its sales to come from the EV segment this fiscal year.
The company has sold around 10,000 units of ZS EV in FY22-23, and expects sales of the model to touch 1,000 units a month this year. Last year, the ZS EV comprised 12 percent of its overall sales volume.
“The sale of electric passenger vehicles is set to rise dramatically in India, from around 50,000 units last year to probably around 125,000-130,000 units this year. During 2023, we expect 30 percent of our total sales of around 80,000-90,000 units to come from the two electric models,” Chaba said, adding, “If we are fortunate, we could produce between 80,000 to 1 lakh units this year and next year our output should be 1.2 lakh units.”
Chaba also said that the company broke even this March. “We broke even in March and we should be able to make a little money this year if we are able to sell 80,000 to 1 lakh units.”
Citing global trends, he noted that electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales now accounted for 30 per cent of the overall new sales in China.
Similarly, EVs account for 20 percent of sales in Europe and 10 percent of the US market, Chaba said.
“In India, EVs are less than 2 percent but this number will go up. For India, the tipping point would be when the penetration levels reach 10 per cent and there are more choices for consumers around the Rs 10 lakh price range,” he explained.
