In the future, the Volkswagen Group also wants to supply its drive and battery platforms for electric cars to a manufacturer in the large Indian market. With this plan, one of the next steps is taken to further open up the internal production of components and entire systems for e-mobility to external customers, said Thomas Schmall, Board Member for Technology and Components. The aim is to conclude a “binding contract” with the Indian carmaker Mahindra by the end of this year, as both partners announced. A first cooperation agreement on this already exists.
It’s about assemblies such as electric drives, battery systems and soon also its own battery cells, which VW produces in its component plants. The so-called modular electrical construction kit is already being used in several of the group’s electric models. However, it is designed as an open concept from which other manufacturers can also partially use it. According to the current status, the US car giant Ford is planning to build at least two electric vehicles based on the VW modular system.
India is considered a growth market
Mahindra and Volkswagen want to continuously evaluate their cooperation. If the aspired permanent cooperation comes about, the Indians would initially be primarily interested in the individual core modules of the construction kit. There is talk of a possible contract with a term of six to seven years. The parts and systems should initially be supplied from VW factories in Europe and Asia. Later, if everything goes as planned and there is sufficient demand in the medium term, local production in South Asia could potentially be conceivable.
India is considered to be one of the car markets with the greatest growth potential, but so far it has mainly been the combustion engine market. In the emerging country with around 1.4 billion inhabitants, only zero-emission vehicles will be registered from the mid-2030s. The industry there wants to make itself more independent of raw materials from abroad, said Schmall. However, there is great interest in supplied electrical components.
In the case of Mahindra, it’s about larger SUVs. Schmall was convinced that the Indian market had enough buyers for this segment. VW had initially tried for a long time to build up a larger range of small to compact cars in the country and in China – with rather moderate success. Talks with the Indian manufacturer Tata about a joint low-cost car had burst a few years ago. The subsidiary Skoda is now responsible for the high-growth subcontinent. Among other things, the Czechs were commissioned to set up a development department for vehicles.