Global automaker Stellantis intends to use India as a base for exporting electric cars, with a focus on Southeast Asian markets at first, a senior business executive said.
Using 500 units shipped to Indonesia on Thursday, Stellantis India began exporting its Made in India ‘E-C3’ electric car. The company hopes to boost its shipments abroad by taking advantage of India’s manufacturing cost competitiveness.
“We will be the first ‘multinational OEM’ in India to achieve this feat (to export EVs). We also have plans for a couple of other markets, Nepal and Bhutan. This is just the start…the plan is to take it from there,” Aditya Jairaj, CEO & MD at Stellantis India mentioned in conversation with PTI.
He added, “We have a dedication to the government-led ‘Make in India’ initiative. We are focusing on this as a very important aspect for Stellantis as a company. This is also aligned with Citroen’s ambitions of democratising electric mobility. The idea of this is to increase adoption of sustainable and clean modes of transportation.”
Jairaj stated that the company’s approach places ‘Made in India’ at its core. “It is also important for us as a player in the Indian automotive space to be competitive. We want to leverage India as a ‘best cost country’, which is what we call ‘India for the world’.”
Furthermore, he addressed about the expansion of the export market of EVs, “We’re also evaluating some other markets where the EV acceptance is at a good level, where we can send our cars. We are at advanced stages of evaluating exporting the E-C3 to other Southeast Asian markets. If we see today, in Southeast Asia the EV penetration is quite significant in several markets and there is the customer demand. We’re looking at West and East of India (for EV exports) but we have not yet come to a stage where we can announce that we are going to be sending these cars to these different locations, but very soon we will add to this.”
Regarding India’s importance to Stellantis’ broader export approach, Jairaj stated, “One of the key reasons is the ability for India to export to different markets. C3 is exported to Africa. We send it to multiple countries in Africa. We’re also evaluating other right-hand drive markets that it can be exported to. We’re also sending C3 Aircross to Malaysia and Indonesia. The Citroen brand is being exported to multiple markets right now.”
According to Jairan, Stellantis’ other brand, Jeep, is shipped from India to Japan, a developed nation with strict quality standards.”We’re also looking at exporting Jeep to other Southeast Asian markets and also in Africa. So as a whole exports will be very significant. We are very flexible and dynamic and our reaction time to making changes has come down. We are leveraging all of these and exports are a very significant tool, I would say at this point for Stellantis in India.”
