Following the news that Chinese EV manufacturer Build Your Dreams (BYD) launched all-electric MPV in India;

Bakar Sadik Agwan, Senior Automotive Consulting Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Foraying into passenger vehicles space comes as a major milestone for BYD in India which will be the first passenger vehicle from the company in India. It is also the first EV in the MPV segment and is initially launched only for B2B sales across key cities in India. Potentially, the company has plans to bring more EVs to the market, its T3 Van could be the next for India.

“BYD has a decade and a half long presence in India. The company has been a key player in electric commercial vehicles and presently holds the largest market share in electric buses in India. Apart from electric commercial vehicles, BYD’s business in India covers mobile components, solar panels, and battery energy storage.

“The Indian electric vehicle (EV) market has been picking up the pace. The recent success of a few domestic cost-efficient EVs has heated up the market and now more automakers are aiming to bring in their flagship EVs in the Indian market. BYD’s launch e6 all-electric MPV is a step in this direction in India.

“BYD is a leading EV brand in China with over 18 BEV and HEV active models in the market including the BYD e6. In early 2021, BYD launched the second generation of its e6 MPV in China which is based on BYD Song Max MPV.

“With the e6 MPV, BYD has established a unique positioning for itself in the Indian market which presently lacks all-electric MPV. The vehicle will compete with the likes of Toyota Innova and Kia Carnival. From a strategic viewpoint, the vehicle could be a fit for government and non-government fleet vehicles. There has been priority focus by the government for electrification of government and non-government fleet than push to personal mobility. All domestic EVs that were launched by Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors were initially launched for institutional sales and were later introduced for the personal mobility segment.

“The fact that the Indian government is keen on achieving its 30% electrification target by 2030 is leading to significant growth in the EV segment. Conducive policies by the central and state governments, incentives and enhancing charging infrastructure will support the near-term growth of EVs. Further, the Make in India initiative is also expected to bring in significant localization to India’s electrification dream. BYD and other manufacturers would continue to launch new and innovative EV products to realize the latent potential in the market.”