G BALACHANDARChennai, December 28

In one month, Tata Motors will becelebrating the fi��rst anniversaryof the launch of its electric com-pact SUV Nexon in the Indianmarket. The journey of this‘Made in India’ electric car will godown as one of the successfulstories of Covid-19-battered 2020.

Tata Nexon EV, formally intro-duced on January 28, 2020, hasdefi��ed market trends with stronggrowth in sales despite the non-availability of what the industrycalled a major EV adoption seg-ment — the fl��eet, which wascrippled by the pandemic.

Covid-19 and the resultantlockdown slammed the brakeson the evolving EV ecosystem,particularly the development ofcharging infrastructure. All key

growth segments — public trans-port, mobility in cities and thefl��eet segment — were impacted.

But Tata’s Nexon EV managedto crack the market.

Breaking barriersDespite losing the fi��rst quarterdue to the lockdown, the in-dustry has sold about 3,000 elec-tric cars (2,959 units precisely)during the April-November2020 period. This iswithout the fl��eetsegment,which repor-ted 80-85 percent declineas it was un-derutilised.So, the entiregrowth was drivenby the personal seg-

ment, which was perceived as aslower adopter due to some bar-riers. Of the 2,959 units sold,2,800 came from the personalsegment, an increase of 2.5 timesover the previous year (a low baseperiod).

The impressive part of thestory is that of the total sales of2,959 units, the Nexon EV accoun-ted for 2,086 units (2,200 unitssince the launch) — about 70 percent of the total industry salesand 4-

4.5 times growth for Tata’s EVsales (it started selling Tigor EVbefore Nexon). Without it, the in-dustry would have declined by15-20 per cent. Also, the Nexon EVhas surpassed the cumulativesales of any EVs in the past.

“A smart strategy with a clearfocus on breaking the key EV bar-riers and partnerships withgroup companies such as TataPower, Tata Chemicals, Tata Auto-Comp Systems, and Tata Capital

for establishing the EVecosystem, has paid

dividends for thecompany,” saysShaileshChandra, Pres-

ident, Passen-ger VehicleBusiness Unit,

Tata Motors.

Attractingusers

A consumer survey during the

conceptual stage revealed thatthe company should overcomethree major barriers to make itsEVs attractive. First, electric carsare priced 2-2.5 times higher .Second, the clear answer forrange concerns was that buyerswill not show interest if therange was less than 200 km.Third, EVs did not provide a thrillwhile driving.

“We took these boundary con-ditions and designed the NexonEV to bust all the key myths, andit was done within just 14-16months. We brought a vehiclethat was tailor-made to the needsof the customers,” says Chandra.

The Nexon EV is just ₹��1-1.5 lakhmore expensive than the Nexondiesel AMT.

“Of course, the Nexon modelitself is stylish and the safest carwith the highest rating. Combin-ations all these factors helpedchange buyer perception aboutEVs,” points out Chandra.

The compact SUV charged up the entireecosystem with smart partnerships

How Tata made Nexon EV a success story