India's auto show set to feature electric cars, scooters

Greaves Cotton

11/01/2023 03:40

By Aditi Shah and Praveen Paramasivam
       NEW DELHI, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Electric cars, scooters
and trucks are expected to take centre stage at India's biennial
car show which kicks off on Wednesday on the outskirts of New
Delhi after a year-long postponement because of the COVID-19
pandemic.
    Firms from Hyundai Motor  005380.KS  to SAIC Motor
 600104.SS , BYD  002594.SZ  and Tata Motors  TAMO.NS  are set
to focus on electric cars. Meanwhile Suzuki Motor Corp's
 7269.T  India unit Maruti Suzuki  MRTI.NS  and Toyota Motor
 7203.T  are expected to showcase other technologies as well, in
hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. 
    The clean vehicle push comes at a time when the Indian
government is looking to cut emissions and pollution in major
cities while also reducing its oil import bill. India is
offering companies millions of dollars in incentives to build
electric vehicles (EVs) and their parts locally.
    India is set to become the world's third-largest market for
light vehicles including passenger cars, displacing Japan in
2022, according to a forecast by S&P Global Mobility before
numbers for the year are finalised. Industry-wide sales grew an
estimated 23% in India to 4.4 million vehicles in 2022.
    Electric models make up less than 1% of total car sales in
the country, and the sector is gaining momentum, but the market
share remains far short of the government's lofty target of 30%
by 2030. 
    Electric-two wheelers have been leading EV sales charts in
India, accounting for 62% of the EVs sold in the first nine
months of the current fiscal year, according to industry data.
Electric scooter sales are set to make up more than 5% of total
scooter and motorbike sales in India in the current fiscal year,
analysts estimate.
    As well as established industry names, the auto show will
also feature electric mobility start-ups including Greaves
Cotton, Matter Motorworks, Tork Motors and Omega Seiki Mobility,
 expected to showcase e-scooters, 'last-mile' delivery vehicles
and people carriers. 
 (Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
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