Mahindra becomes First Indian Auto Major to make an entry into Electric Vehicles by buying Reva

Electric Vehicles are receiving increasing amounts of attention and dollars from established vehicle makers around the world . Nissan has already seen massive bookings for its much anticipated “Leaf” while GM is trying to revive its fortune by releasing Chevy Volt.Toyota which has been the leader in “Green Vehicle” race with its iconic Prius, recently tied up with  Tesla Motors which is supposed to  IPO this year. Other Major companies like Honda and Mazda which have been so far quiet in the EV space are also trying to catch up, forced by Competition.

Mahindra which is known more for its truck and utility vehicles has acquired small EV company Reva by buying up a 55% stake for an undisclosed amount.Reva launched its boxy 2 seater Electric Vehicle in 2001 and was one of the first companies in the world to produce Electric Vehicles on a commercial basis.But its tough for a startup in the automobile space given the huge amounts of capital and engineering capabilities required to scale up . It had recently tied up with General Motors for technology transfer but apparently it needed more than technology to go to the next level.

Indian companies have been far behind the Chinese companies like BYD Auto in development of EVs , but Mahindra’s acquisition of small pure play EV maker Reva marks the first serious entry by a big Indian auto company into the Electric Vehicles space. Look forward to other big Indian companies like Tata Motors,Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj also start to firm up their plans in the EV segment.We are also potentially going to see the first Indian IPO of an Electric Vehicle  company with Kabirdass filing a prospectus with SEBI

Mahindra eyes global electric car entry with Reva buy – Reuters

Utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra agreed to buy a 55 percent stake in pioneering electric car maker Reva, aiming to be a significant player in the global electric vehicle industry.Mahindra is taking the majority stake in Reva Electric Car Company by buying a part of the founder’s stake, and investing an additional 450 million rupees ($9.5 million) in fresh equity.

Reva, founded by technocrat Chetan Maini in 1994, is a joint venture with California’s AEV LLC and was one of the first companies to launch electric vehicles on a commercial basis in 2001.Highlighting the growth of the sector, GM India has lined up an electric version of the Chevrolet Spark to be launched later this year, while Hyundai Motors has already begun selling an electric version of its i10 hatchback.