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As the global electric mobility megatrend, among others, gains traction, the collaboration route is increasingly being taken by automotive companies worldwide as a strategy to achieve success. For the same reason, Mahindra & Mahindra and Ashok Leyland could come together for the common goal of success in electric mobility, if the collaborative mindset of their leaders lead to joining forces between their organisations.

There's a valid argument behind it. For electric vehicles (EV) to become commercially viable, the EV industry needs to have scale. "If everybody starts doing things on their own, we will end up with sub-scale. It's not going to benefit anybody," Dr Pawan Goenka, MD, Mahindra & Mahindra and chairman, Mahindra Electric, told Autocar Professional at a press conference on Friday.

On November 4, Dheeraj Hinduja, chairman, Ashok Leyland had said, "We are quite open to the idea of working with others on electric vehicles". Ashok Leyland's 'Circuit', launched about three years ago, claims to be India's first locally made electric bus. The OEM then partnered with Sun Mobility to launch the 'Circuit S', an electric bus powered by the latter's swappable Smart Battery technology, in February 2018.

Hinduja says, "Although we have developed a product on our own, it will keep evolving. The rate at which battery costs have come down has been very significant and its capacity is also increasing. Unless there's some new technology someone is going to offer or bring in, or we can co-develop, I don't think we have done everything to make sure that we're very much independent and self-reliant in our technologies." Ashok Leyland is working on a new bus platform designed exclusively for electrification.

Source: Autocar Professional