[volkman10]

Volkswagen and M&M announced that they have signed a Partnering Agreement to evaluate the scope of collaboration and exploring the use of MEB electric components for Mahindra’s new “Born Electric Platform”.

Binding supply contract planned to be concluded by end of 2022.

The shared objective of the two companies is to electrify the Indian automotive market, one of the most important automotive growth markets and a key element in the global decarbonization of the mobility sector.






Mahindra intends to equip its “Born Electric Platform” with MEB electric components such as electric motors, battery system components and battery cells. The Partnering Agreement evaluates the scope of collaboration – it indicates binding rules for the evaluation phase as well as the non-binding scope of supply. The binding supply agreement will be negotiated in a continued constructive and legally compliant way to conclude by the end of 2022.

Designed as an open vehicle platform, the MEB electric platform and its components allows car manufacturers to build their portfolio of electrified vehicles, quickly and cost-effectively.

Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Board of Management member for Technology and CEO of Volkswagen Group Components:

It’s another proof point that the MEB is both technologically state of the art and highly competitive in terms of cost. The MEB is thus progressively developing into the leading open platform for e-mobility, generating significant volume and economies of scale. That’s crucial for every company in the EV world and the key to competitive solutions for our customers.

Next gen “Born Electric Platform”, to be revealed soon in Oxfordshire UK.



Link

[padmrajravi]

One more collaboration from M&M. To be fair, these collaborations will be needed to take on the Chinese assault in the electric era. They are way ahead of every other manufacturer when it comes to EVs

On another note, VW owners must be sweating now. We all know what happens to companies that try to collaborate with Mahindra. I hope VW's resale values are not affected by this announcement.

[DeKay]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

VW owners must be sweating now. We all know what happens to companies that try to collaborate with Mahindra. I hope VW's resale values are not affected by this announcement.

Why? This only means that Mahindra might use VW's MEB architecture for their EVs. It doesn't affect VW owners in any way. Neither is Mahindra acquiring VW nor is VW developing anything jointly with Mahindra.

VW will sell a product off their shelf and how Mahindra uses it, is not their concern. It's a win-win for both companies, VW has another client using their platform, Mahindra saves money and most importantly, time; by using a well built, ground up electric vehicle architecture from a global giant.

[saikishor]

After a couple of months:
VW and M&M end partnership
VW ends India 2.0
VW packs its bags and leaves to Germany.


Ofcourse, this isn't happening, but given Mahindra's track record, who knows

[shortbread]

Tbh I always felt among all the auto players in India, M&M had the foresight and R&D prowess to lead India's EV race. They were the first ones off the block, acquiring Reva back in 2010, starting an in-house electric race team to compete in FE since 2014......BUT!

Hopefully this means the XUV 300 and KUV 100 EVs make their debuts shortly, the market needs it. Delay it any longer than 18-24 months, Tata will simply entrench it's lead in EV sales and M&M will be left to fight it out among the new Electric entrants like Maruti, Hyundai etc.

I still think M&M can go at it alone, because VW has a predatory nature which Suzuki found out the hard way. Nonetheless, they have a highly experienced team that knows what's right. Wishing Mahindra all the best.

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by saikishor

After a couple of months:
VW and M&M end partnership
VW ends India 2.0
VW packs its bags and leaves to Germany.


Ofcourse, this isn't happening, but given Mahindra's track record, who knows

I guess this is supposed to be a sarcastic post.

M&M will be using the MEB platform, the drivetrain, batteries from VW and put the body, interiors in it's own way. This is equivalent to MS using Fiat engines.
Ford is also working on similar car on MEB platform, even though it is already selling it's in-house developed Mach e.

The effort from VW is minimal as they already have the platform ready, to maximize the profits and reduce the R&D costs per car they are trying to sell as many MEB platform cars as possible.

[tanbeamer]

Originally Posted by shortbread

I still think M&M can go at it alone, because VW has a predatory nature which Suzuki found out the hard way. Nonetheless, they have a highly experienced team that knows what's right. Wishing Mahindra all the best.

For all the attacks on VAG for their predatory nature, Mahindra is no less, and it is good two equally strong companies are in collaboration for this. Dominating nature of both companies will help keep each other in check too

[volkman10]

Official press release:










It is, however, important to note that these are still early days, and it remains to be seen what finally comes out of this partnership. While we will only know the finer minutiae of the agreement by the end of 2022, should it all come to fruition, it will mean more high-quality, mass-market EVs for Indian buyers.
Link

[GTO]

It's not easy to work with VW and its giant German ego. In alliances, it is usually a my-way-or-the-highway attitude with VW. Remember VW & Suzuki's breakup? Remember VW & Tata's breakup?

Equally, Mahindra has a track record of innumerable alliances (Ssangyong, Piaggio, Navistar, Reva, Ford, Renault, BSA Motorcycles, Peugeot Motorcycles and what not), but little has come out of these.

I think such a partnership will work only if:

1. One party is the clear leader & decision-maker, while the other is fine with being a follower.

2. Or one party is too small & dependent.

Both these companies are huge and used to having their way. Will be interesting to see how this collaboration unfolds.

[steadfast]

Much needed for Mahindra to counter Tata's huge EV landscape.
However could be a challenge for Mahindra in long run as all products of Volkswagen or any German brand are over engineered and hence maintenance/replacement costs of Mahindra EV parts may go up.

[pradheepsr]

A good strategy indeed.
But VAG group should consider bringing in the ID3 and the Enyaq EVs to Indian market atleast via CBU route initially to judge the response and then thinking about assembling them at Pune.
For Mahindra if this works out as per plan they take a huge chunk out of TATA’s share.

[sgmuser]

I did not want to say anything negative and wanted to refrain from posting, but, those itchy hands! Mahindra is famous for their record in the collaborations. It never works for them. Why they do this and then in knee jerk reactions, they come out of it.

[Ritkon]

Ford made good cars in India.
Ford India sales dwindled.
Ford and Mahindra announce joint venture.
Ford and Mahindra pull the plug on joint venture.
Ford exits India.

VW made good cars in India.
VW India sales dwindled.
VW and Mahindra announce joint venture.
??
??

Am I being paranoid or will it be a reality? Only time will tell.

[kiku007]

HR: What should we do with the Mahindra employees who worked on the Mahindra-Ford JV?
Mahindra HQ: Hang in there. We have a plan.
HR: Ok.
Mahindra HQ: Move them to the Mahindra-VW JV work.
HR: Like how we moved them across the JV programs with Ford, Mitsubishi, Renault, Navistar, Ssangyong, Reva etc. Roger that.
Mahindra Finance department: Allocate a couple of millions under wasteful expenditure.

[EV NXT]

It’s a no brainer that this alliance will never work. It’s not a question of whether it will fall apart but WHEN it will fall apart.

Then why do they do this?

Simple - the managements of both companies have to appear to be doing something rather than actually doing anything. The board and the shareholders will be happy as share prices will go up with this announcement.

Give it 2-3 years and the alliance will fall apart just like the Mahindra Ford one did.

What a waste of time, effort and money!