The country’s largest electric vehicles (EVs) maker Tata Motors has twice claimed second place in passenger vehicle monthly sales —in December 2021 and May 2022.

Tata Motors is on track to launch 10 new EVs over the next five years – one or two models each year – not limited to SUVs, but also sedans and hatchbacks. In a recent interview with businessline, Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, shares more. Excerpts: -

This has been the best year for everyone in the industry. Do you think the trend will continue in 2023, as many say it will see a lower growth due to it being big base year?

This calendar year will end with 3.7 plus million sales of PVs from the supply perspective, and supply had been an issue for the last two years. This signals a strong supply, which has completely eaten away the pent-up demand which was hitting regular models – new models and some popular models. Hatchbacks have been hard hit the hardest. Therefore, we saw a mismatch between mix of demand versus mix of supply. That is also why we saw a dip in November in demand, post a very good festive season. But, fortunately December bookings are up to normal levels and that is a ray of hope.

January onwards, we have to see how it goes, as macro economic factors are also playing, like inflation. And if CNG price comes down it will be good for the lower end of the market. CNG is mostly in the lower-end of the segments and therefore plays a significant role. But next fiscal will see single digit growth because of a very high base. There has already been a jump of 25-30 per cent from last year. Then there are the new emission norms from the next fiscal , so we have to see how it pans out.

Now that Tata Motors has all fuel injections available including CNG and Electric, will you continue with diesel vehicles?

Diesel contributes 15-17 per cent of our overall sales. We have Altroz, Nexon, Harrier and Safari in deisel, and in some future models. We will continue with diesel, but of course diesel has no relevance today in smaller segments like compact sedans and hatchbacks. However, it will sustain in compact UVs and SUVs for sometime. After BS-7 it will definitely face a lot of pressure, but till then it will sustain itself. We have existed in BS-6 and from April 2023 also, we will carry forward.

How is the booking going for Tiago EV launched recently? Are you on track to sell 50,000 EVs this fiscal?

We have crossed 20,000 units of bookings for Tiago EV which was eligible for the introductory price of ₹8.49 lakh. We are selling roughly 4,500 EVs per month, which makes for more than 50,000 units annually. So, by this fiscal end, we should be closer to it in all probability, because in eight months (April-November), we would have sold around 30,000 EVs.

When we consider all the plants as a combined capacity, we are manufacturing 47,000 vehicles on an average every month. We can do better with higher demand.

I have certain aspiration related to what capacities I am investing in. My plan is to grow from where I am. And, this calendar year, we will sell more than five-lakh units. And for the first time, we will be the third player crossing the five-lakh mark in domestic sales.