Tata Motors-owned luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover on Wednesday, 13 January, reported its second successive quarter-on-quarter recovery with retail sales growing by 13 percent, reported Business Insider.
What is startling about the sales growth is that with 128,469 vehicles sold in the last quarter, 53 percent of the sales came from elective vehicles(EV), which include the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque.
With Tesla’s recent announcement of entering the Indian car market, Tata Motors’ Jaguar Land Rover will soon be gaining a formidable opponent in the EV car segment.
Tata’s growth in sales, especially in the EV segment, brings the company's overall share of electric vehicles in its 2020 sales to 43.3 percent.
The share price of Tata Motors rallied nearly 12 percent on Wednesday, trading near its 52-week high. It has surged nearly 25 percent in two trading sessions.
Tata Motors Committed to EV Growth
The recent launch of the Jaguar EX, Jaguar XF and Land Rover Discovery signal that Tata is looking to expand its EV segment.
Tata will kickstart the EV spree with the Nexon SUV, launching in January 2019. Other than this, Tata Motors also launched a new version of Tigor which will offer longer driving range on a single charge.
Without divulging more details on the electric powertrain likely to be fitted in these EVs, N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Motors highlighted the need to set up charging stations.
In addition to launching cars, the company will also focus on improving the infrastructure needed to increase demand for EVs.
Tesla R&D Centre Setup in Bengaluru
Tesla has registered with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) as Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited. As per the RoC of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the company was incorporated in Bengaluru on 8 January 2021. It is classified as a ‘Subsidiary of Foreign Company,’ which could be Tesla Inc.
According to CNBC-TV18, Tesla is in talks with five state governments – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu – to explore setting up manufacturing, R&D centres and has hired a global consulting firm for the same.