Mahindra must price XUV300 EV smartly to take on Tata Nexon Max

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has announced that it will launch the electric version of its XUV300 but whether it will be able to take on the Tata Nexon electric vehicle (EV) would depend on M&M’s pricing strategy. 

With the plan for an XUV300 EV, it is clear that Mahindra wants to play the volume game in India’s e-car market, and to reach volume customers, it may be having a strategy to get the pricing right.

The Mahindra XUV300 EV Concept.

If things go according to M&M’s plan, the Mahindra XUV300 may hit the Indian roads by mid-2023.

According to sources, the production version of the electric XUV300 could be rechristened the XUV400. So, is Mahindra planning to make this e-car feature rich compared to the petrol and diesel versions? In that case, it may even reflect in the pricing.

Besides the powertrain, one difference between the two variants will be the length. According to Mahindra, the electric vehicle would be 4.2 metres in length, which is around 20 cm more than the standard XUV300 model.

This could offer more boot space to the passengers (that is an issue with the XUV300), thus offering a higher comfort level while travelling on the electric vehicle.

For the EV, Mahindra could adopt the body structure of the longer SsangYong Tivoli on which the XUV300 is based.

The XUV300 electric SUV will come with fresh LED tail lamps having clear lenses in between. A striking feature of this EV is the stretched rear end, which should pave the way for more luggage space compared to the current fuel version.

The wheelbase remains unchanged, implying there will be no difference in rear knee room compared to the current XUV300. Besides, the electric SUV will come with a redesigned fascia and bespoke alloys. 

Powertrain and battery information is not available. But the single motor that drives the front wheels will come with a minimum output of 150 hp.

In terms of power, the electric XUV300 may have a slight advantage over the recently-rolled out Tata Nexon EV Max, which belts out 143 hp output.

There are the high-density NMC cells in the XUV300 EV, and using them may also give it a longer range than the Tata Nexon Max EV, which comes with lower-power density cylindrical LFP cells.

Mahindra will source batteries for the XUV300 EV from LG Chem, a South Korean company.

This may be a big issue as the battery maker could not raise volumes for the batteries developed for XUV300. This may be the reason for delay in the launch of the M&M SUV.

M&M displayed an electric XUV300 concept at the Auto Expo 2020 and the EV will actually hit the roads in 2023, a whopping three years later. Mahindra has lost the first-mover advantage to Tata because of its battery issue. 

Mahindra XUV internal combustion engine (ICE) variants are priced from Rs 8.5 lakh (Rs 850,000) to Rs 12.4 lakh (Rs 1.24 million). And, grapevine is that the electric version may come for Rs 15 lakh (Rs 15,00,000). 

If this is actually the pricing, it could be a game-changer in the Indian small SUV e-car segment. 

M&M will have to price the XUV300 EV smartly compared to the Nexon EV Max and also match its distance travelled on a single charge, to gain a big toehold in India’s electric vehicle space.