Tata Motors aims to match ICE rivals' prices to revitalize its EV sales with new Curvv SUV

Tata Motors, the country's biggest passenger electric vehicle (EV) maker, is taking the EV fight to rivals' camps by matching its EV prices with the prices of their competing conventional vehicles. The move is being seen as a strategy to boost the pull of the company's electric offerings amid a recent industry-wide slump in EV sales.

The aggressive pricing is being driven by a relentless decrease in battery prices and Tata Motors' own cost optimization and localization efforts, along with the generous help of a lower GST (goods and services tax) tag on the cars compared to IC-engine models.

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The carmaker's latest offering, the electric Curvv coupe SUV, is set to be the first salvo in this plan to offer a host of cars on an electric platform to move up the premium SUV curve, after having launched in a more affordable range earlier. Its cheapest EV, the Tiago EV, starts at ₹8 lakh.

The Curvv EV, launched on Wednesday, will be available in two battery pack options—45kWh and 55kWh—the latter being the company's largest battery yet in an EV. Prices for the e-SUV start at ₹17.49 lakh and go up to ₹21.99 lakh (ex-showroom).

Positioning compelling alternatives

While Tata Motors says its objective is to position the cars as a compelling alternative to similarly priced ICE vehicles in the mid-SUV segment like the Hyundai Creta, industry experts point to the possibility of the model cannibalizing sales of its own sibling in the portfolio, the compact SUV Nexon EV, even though the company clarifies the two models have “different buyer profiles”. (Tata uses on-road pricing of petrol automatic transmission models for comparison with its EVs; mid-sized SUVs attract an effective GST of 43%, while EVs attract a flat 5% GST irrespective of their size.)

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However, Tata stops shy of calling the Curvv EV pricing “strategic” while emphasizing how it lies in the ballpark of the pricing for a gasoline-powered automatic. To be sure, many IC-engine models in the category are available much below the ₹17.49 lakh price tag for the Curvv EV.

“I would not say we have deliberately kept our prices lower than ICE because you would think that this is strategic pricing, it is not," Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said at the launch of the Curvv EV.

Pricing normal

Chandra said the pricing for the SUV was normal considering the margin profile the company wants to earn.

“This has been possible because cell prices have come down, we have used cell tech which along with our constant effort of bringing down the non-cell cost of the battery back through localization efforts has brought down the pack-level battery cost. This can later on be horizontally deployed,” he added.

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Tata Motors will also launch an IC-engine version of the Curvv coupe, which will be built on its new ATLAS platform. It is yet to announce prices for the petrol and diesel-powered models. The Curvv SUV will further enhance the company's footprint in the SUV market, where its Punch & Nexon EVs are the best-selling models. “We thought bringing in an SUV coupe in the crowded mid-SUV space will be clutter-breaking,” Chandra said.

Price a barrier

While price is one barrier to EV adoption, buyers lately have been staying away from EVs due to inadequate charging infrastructure and charge anxiety, and the long time taken to charge cars, Chandra added.

The Curvv EV can be charged to deliver a range of 150 km in 15 minutes with a fast charger of power output 70kW or more.

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Tata Motors says the steep fall in its EV sales in July and the first quarter of the fiscal took place on account of a “significant pre-buy” from the fleet segment, before FAME subsidies were withdrawn from the segment.

Chandra said he expects EV sales to get back on the growth path in the second half of the fiscal, with the onset of the festive season.