Multinational automaker Stellantis is gearing up to officially make India its primary electric vehicle export hub for Southeast Asian markets, TOT reports, citing a senior company official.
Stellantis kicks off EV shipments to Indonesia
Stellantis has just confirmed plans to make India its export hub for electric vehicles to supply Southeast Asia, starting with Indonesia.
On Thursday, Stellantis India officially kicked off exports of its Made-in-India E-C3 with 500 units to the Indonesian market.
The Franco-Italian-American automaker is apparently seeking to take advantage of the country’s cost competitiveness in electric vehicle production to boost its exports.
“We will be the first ‘multinational OEM’ in India to achieve this feat (to export EVs). We also have plans for a couple of other markets, Nepal and Bhutan. This is just the start… the plan is to take it from there.”
Stellantis India CEO & MD Aditya Jairaj
CEO Aditya further indicated the company’s commitment to the “Make in India” initiative of the government.
“We have a dedication to the government-led ‘Make in India’ initiative. We are focusing on this as a very important aspect for Stellantis as a company. This is also aligned with Citroen’s ambitions of democratising electric mobility. The idea of this is to increase adoption of sustainable and clean modes of transportation.”
Stellantis India CEO & MD Aditya Jairaj
The Stellantis India boss disclosed that the automaker plans to export locally-made electric vehicles to other markets, such as Nepal and Bhutan. The company specifically aims to explore export prospects for the Citroen eC3.
“We are at advanced stages of evaluating exporting the E-C3 to other Southeast Asian markets. If we see today, in Southeast Asia the EV penetration is quite significant in seceral markets and there is customer demand.”
Stellantis India CEO & MD Aditya Jairaj
CEO Aditya announced that the company has already shipped the C3 to Africa and the C3 Aircross to Malaysia and Indonesia. It also exported some Jeep units from India to Japan, with plans for other Southeast Asian markets and Africa.
New EV policy
Stellantis’ move to make India its electric vehicle export hub for Southeast Asia came after the government introduced a new policy to boost local manufacturing.
For context, India’s new EV policy promises to lower taxes on select EVs imported by foreign automakers as long as they commit to investing at least $500 million in local manufacturing and start production within three years.
The new policy significantly enabled India to gradually advance as one of the most ideal nations to produce and export EVs.
India becomes an attractive country for EVs
Stellantis’ increased EV push in India makes it a step ahead of its rivals, including Tesla. The Musk-led company has faced major obstacles in its long-standing plans to bring its EVs to the Indian market, particularly the high import tariffs.
In effect, it cannot pursue local manufacturing in the country as it still needs to test demand through imports. Now that the new policy has become favorable for EV imports, Tesla’s plans seem to be progressing.
Tesla Chief Elon Musk is set to travel to India this month to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the company’s investment plans in the country.
Apart from Tesla, many companies are eyeing the Indian industry. Tesla battery supplier Panasonic Energy recently announced a potential partnership with Indian Oil to locally manufacture EV batteries.
