JayPrashanth

Editor at CarToq, made-in-India, food, motorcycles, cars, travel, money markets, IIT KGP

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

1. How can you compare a manual ICE car with an EV? At least compare the automatic trims.

2. The eVitara feels far more responsive and seamless than the Grand Vitara to drive.

3. The Grand Vitara has a much better back seat, and better ride quality than the eVitara.

4. If you have to compare, you must compare the eVitara to the Grand Vitara Hybrid.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

@GreenDrvIndia Vinfast India seems to be a company that simply doesn't have parts for anything other than routine service. I have people telling me that TPMS modules are taking months to arrive. It's not a good situation to be in.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

@LakhiSKripal @20_1NM Yes. A lot of people don't realise this.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

@AjayS0001 @VinFastIN @VinFastofficial @VinFast_VietNam Vinfast is a shady brand. You're not the only one. There are many who're facing similar situations.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

Yes but Tata's being conservative. It's just a different approach. Mahindra did exactly the same with the Thar. They kept cost low, used the Bolero platform to launch the first gen Thar. Once they got convinced that the lifestyle market was booming, they brought the second generation. And the ROXX. So it's just a different approach.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

@iam_katy_miller Yes but that's fine. Even basic accessories were a problem in Kerala.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

From god's own country to mod's own country!

Good to see Kerala govt walking the talk.

The government is all set to allow 18 different modifications on cars.

The transport commissioner has sent the government a list of 18 modifications that it has deemed safe, and that can be permitted.

Once the government approves this list, modifications can begin with permission from local transport authorities.

The bigger picture: More states could follow this, thereby regulating modifications rather than banning them outright!

@CarToq @vdsatheesan

https://t.co/bG7bpwAkqr

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

China incentivised EVs. The Chinese govt put huge amounts of money into EV makers and the supply chain. They also put huge amount of money on infra. All the companies like Xiaomi etc took advantage of the ecosystem that was already operational. In India, that kind of ecosystem or spending power is simply not there. The Chinese luxury and premium car market is huge compared to that in India. Automakers will put money when they see returns. All of these companies are publicly held, which means they simply can't put money into projects on a whim. To say Tata doesn't have vision is incorrect. Why else would they be building agratas etc?

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

See, BMW, Tesla and Merc EVs are now at 50 Lakh. BYD starts from sub-30. Now just because Tata wants a pie of the premium play, why would they go all in and spend a few billions? Isn't it easier to test waters with the CKD route? Moreover, remember the Mahindra Alturas? Why would Tata want to risk it with such a thin volume beyond a point?

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

If they trust a Windsor or Majestor or BYD, why won't they trust Tata? What difference does it make? The man on the street doesn't care about platform etc. All this is enthusiast talk. People frankly don't care. Aren't they buying Chinese smartphones even at 50-60K? That's like a 40 lakh car. Same thing. It has to offer value and be reliable. That's all counts. The Chinese are global leaders in EV engineering!

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

@shreemallatheru @MrBsCoffee30 @20_1NM 1. BYD is vertically integrated. 2. They are heavily subsidized. If M&M is going to have a price war with them, they may get singed!

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

Simple. Does a Tata have the badge value to pull off something at 40-45 lakh? Also contrary to expectations, that's why they're going with Avinya. It's not Tata Avinya. It may even have a separate retail structure.

And putting a few billion dollars for a new brand isn't something they may want to do given how thin the market it beyond 25 lakh rupees.

So, if they're experimenting, it's better they do it with minimal outflow. Even the Avinya was announced due to the EMA platform sharing. Now that JLR is saying they won't build EMA here, they're now at Plan B.

Foundation etc can be built quickly if the market shows viability. These are EVs were talking about. Prior to 2021, M&M didn't have a Born Electric play. 3 years later, they had cars on the road! Like M&M, Tata also has much shorter validation cycles. They're not Europeans to take 4-5 years. Even Europeans (Renault's new formula) are compressing validation cycles, and want to bring out new products in 2-3 years rather than 5-6 years. Francois Provost said exactly this at FutuREADY.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

@shreemallatheru @Reuters @AvisharDutta Ok. Go ahead, keep dissing them. :-D

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

@shreemallatheru @Reuters @AvisharDutta That's exactly what they're doing even now with the Avinya. Remember, they're also building the back end with Agratas, Tata Autocomp etc. Give it time. No point dissing them for assembling Chinese EV kits.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

Mechanical side, what innovation? They took a Tigor, put a battery in it, and found that it worked. Then they did the same with the Nexon. And then they brought a full architecture: Acti.EV+. Same way, it'll happen for higher end stuff also. The Chinese are the best at EVs currently. No harm in bringing their platforms and eventually figuring out how to do it, perhaps better. This is how the entire auto industry in India has been. M&M started assembling Willys. Tata started assembling Merc trucks.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

Who's saying Indian innovation? It's not. See this: https://t.co/lofD3NDGwe

Now that the Majestor's launched, the Avinya will be one of the 15 new Chinese cars coming to India.

The Chinese have been here for a while now. It started with the Premier Rio (Zotye Nomad), then the Force Motors One (Guangdong Foday Explorer).

Then the Hector from MG came along. MG ZS, Comet, Windsor, Gloster, Majestor, Cyberster, M9. All the BYDs. The Tesla Model Ys. The Volkswagen Tayron. As of now, we have at least a dozen Chinese cars.

Now, coming to why we're not letting the Chinese in directly, why should we? Will China let Indian companies inside without tariffs? Every country worth its salt will try its best to protect domestic industry, often at the cost of innovation. Innovation is what happens despite this protectionism.

As of now, the only Indian OEM truly innovating is electric cars is M&M. But yes, even M&M uses Chinese components for the Born Electric but that's the nature of the business. China has a stranglehold on EVs, and the materials required to build them. They have been investing hugely in this, for years and years. BYD is competitive not because of its innovation alone but also because the Chinese govt subsidized much of its operations for years. Same with most other Chinese OEMs.

[JayPrashanth @JayPrashanth]

Why terrible? What else is MG Motor doing? Windsor is Baojun Cloud. And it's been India's best selling electric car for a while now!

I don't understand what the big deal about this is. JLR decided that they won't build EMA cars in India. So Tata picked the Chery platform to build electric cars here.

And what will JSW Motors do? Same thing no?