NEW DELHI: JSW MG Motor India on Wednesday launched Windsor cross utility vehicle (CUV) as one of the newest entrants into the Indian car market. It aims to increase the share of electric vehicle (EV) in its sales portfolio. Windsor is also the first vehicle to be launched under the joint venture (JV) between India’s JSW Group and MG Motor India, the local unit of China’s biggest car company SAIC Motor.
JSW MG has priced the CUV at Rs 9.99 lakh as the company claims this would address the huge price gap between internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and EVs. However, the battery is missing at this price point. It has introduced a battery-as-a-service (BaaS) plan wherein the consumer will have to pay Rs 3.5 per km as a rental for the battery.
Satinder Singh Bajwa, chief commercial officer at JSW MG Motor India, said they would announce ex-showroom prices of Windsor (with fitted battery) on October 3 and deliveries would commence from October 12.
“We are addressing the initial cost barrier of owning an EV…We are giving options to consumers as to how they would like to own the vehicle,” said Bajwa.
JSW MG Motor India CEO Emeritus Rajeev Chaba said with the launch of Windsor, EV sales in company’s portfolio should exceed 50% mark. Currently, EVs account for 35% of the company’s sales.
“We have five cars right now and Windsor is the sixth -- a total of three EVs and three ICE vehicles. In the first seven months of this year, our EV sales volumes have grown 52%…With Windsor coming in, EV should be over 50% of our sales,” added Chaba. He said in the next 12-18 months, the localisation level of the CUV would be 80%. The company has also set a target to introduce a new car every four to six months.
Parth Jindal, Director, JSW MG Motor India, said the way their competitors are pricing the EVs, they are trying to show the world that EVs are more expensive than ICE vehicles.