Mahindra mulling over a new hybrid car for India by 2015

Who would have guessed that a tractor making company would leave its mark on the luxury utility segment too? Clearly, the minds behind the Mahindra & Mahindra group had thought about it and made this company emerge as one of the biggest native auto maker of the country. M&M’s acquisition of Ssangyong was one of the biggest overseas deals and the company has also taken possession of controlling stake in the Maini Group’s REVA electric cars. The aspirations of M&M are at a high as usual and the company has announced its intentions of progress on a hybrid vehicle that will be introduced in India by 2015.

A Hybrid car is nothing like an Electric car. A Hybrid car is powered by a combination of energy produced by a mainstream combustion engine and an electric motor whereas an electric car is completely dependent on electricity and needs to be charged from a socket. The first Hybrid car of India was Honda Civic Hybrid; unfortunately this car didn’t attract much customers and Honda Siel Cars was forced to sell the stock at half the price.  Toyota Prius is another example of a Hybrid car that is doing well in foreign markets esp. U.S. but this car couldn’t sell many units on the account of its hefty price tag. M&M has reserved around Rs. 300 crore for this Hybrid car project which is being handled by a team of 14 people, at the new research and development (R&D) centre at Oragadam in Chennai.

During the Auto Expo 2008, Mahindra demoed a hybrid prototype of its flagship Scorpio SUV. In 2010, Mahindra exhibited a functioning prototype of the Maxximo EV which is a mini lorry and at the latest 2012 show; the company showcased the electric version of Verito which is actually a rechristened Renault Logan. Some popular SUV models of Mahindra are already being offered as MicroHybrid; these are not exactly hybrids but are just ordinary models with start-stop technology. With fuel prices rising every second of every day, the timing of the project is pretty apt and the demand for hybrids is also expected to increase as much as 50 times in the next few years. Currently M&M is also working on hydrogen-powered vehicles with IIT, Mumbai.

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