Toyota to price hybrids judiciously | Mahindra XUV400 may not offer price advantage

In a bid to take on pure electric vehicle (EV) makers like Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) head on, Toyota plans to bring in hybrid vehicles, which it said would be priced judiciously while M&M’s EV XUV400 may not come with a price advantage.

 

Toyota plans to whittle down the cost of full hybrid powertrains by manufacturing them in the country and it would also source its materials from India. But the auto giant has remained mum on putting a tag to the prices right now.

Toyota pact with Suzuki

Toyota is collaborating with Suzuki Motor and intends to take advantage of the latter’s low-cost engineering as well as mild hybrid know-how.

Toyota Hyryder hybrid is coming
to India soon.

Toyota would make use of both strong and mild hybrid technology. The difference between the two is that in case of mild hybrids, they only support the petrol or diesel engine to help pare emission.

However, in the case of strong hybrids, a car can use its electric power to travel a large distance on its own and can switch to fuel mode also. Mild hybrids have smaller batteries and are far cheaper than the strong variety.

EVs are still not within the reach of many, who want to buy them. On the other hand, petrol and diesel cars are turning out to be a burden on its owners owing to the skyrocketing prices of the two fuels.

 

Toyota sees hybrids as an opportunity as it balances the worry of distance travelled on a single charge (for EVs) and the high operating cost of petrol and diesel cars.

 

So, if Toyota hybrids are priced cheaper than EVs, it would see many flocking for these vehicles and it could make a deeper impact in the Indian market.

 

Also, India’s charging infra for EVs is yet to develop. And here, hybrids would have an advantage as its users can quickly switch to petrol/diesel mode if there is no charging station nearby.

 

Toyota is bringing in a new hybrid vehicle — the Urban Cruiser Hyryder — into the country that could be priced lower than its EV counterparts.

 

XUV400 price Rs 15 lakh onwards; to launch in September

 

M&M would be rolling out the XUV300’s electric version — dubbed the XUV400 — on September 6 and its price of Rs 15 lakh (Rs 15,00,000) onwards may be on the higher side.

Mahindra XUV400 is the electric version of the XUV300.

In the clean energy segment, Mahindra’s new electric SUV will compete with the likes of Tata Nexon EV as well as hybrids like Toyota Hyryder and Maruti Suzuki’s Grand Vitara hybrid.

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The XUV400 can cover 350-400 km on a single charge. Against this, Tata Nexon’s (Standard) range is 315 km, while for the Nexon Max, it is 435 km.

 

M&M’s XUV400 will come with impressive features like Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), daytime running lamps (DRLs) and new headlights. It will also come with a close-off front grille as well as newly-designed, smart and sleek-looking tail lamps.

 

The INGLO platform will propel all EVs from the Mahindra stable. This platform offers 60-80 kWh battery capacity and fast charging can be done in a jiffy, that is, 30 minutes.

 

Conclusion

Toyota’s smartly-priced hybrids may see a huge response from India’s auto buffs while M&M XUV400’s pricing may be similar to Tata Nexon Max’s even though it was hoped that the Mahindra SUV would come with a price advantage compared to the Tata SUV.