How Tata Motors Plans To Fight Off Mahindra, MG And Remain King Of EVs
Electric vehicles have been gaining ground in India. As of March 2026, the EV penetration in the passenger car segment is roughly 4.2 percent. In the financial year 2026 (FY26), the average penetration has been around 4.3%. Despite being fewer in count, electric vehicles are a fast-growing segment here. Tata Motors has long been dominating the EV space and has a wide range of all-electric products on offer. Of late, we saw manufacturers like Mahindra and MG competing with it with a range of well-packaged products. We have seen their market shares rise. Tata Motors, however, isn’t ready to give up and has a solid plan to fight off Mahindra and MG.
Tata Motors plans to fight back by launching competitive products that will rival hot-selling MG and Mahindra models and potentially outsell them in the long run, securing its leadership in the space. Four major launches are expected from Tata Motors in the coming months- all part of the plan.
Tata Motors will launch the much-awaited Sierra.EV on May 19th. It will sit below the Harrier.EV in the carmaker’s India portfolio. The Sierra.EV will likely be priced aggressively and will compete primarily with the Mahindra BE6. The BE6 now enjoys a strong foothold in the mid-size electric SUV segment. It, however, has a shouty design and tries to overwhelm us with features and technology. The Sierra.EV will be more mature with its styling and packaging.
The electric Sierra will have significant design deviations from the internal combustion engine (ICE) model. The silhouette will resemble that of the ICE model. The front fascia will, however, get a closed-off grille, new bumper, and slightly tweaked headlamps. The EV will also feature aero-optimized wheels and a different rear bumper. Cues like the large panoramic rear glass areas and flush door handles will be retained.
The company hasn’t officially revealed the Sierra.EV’s interior yet. It is expected to get different colour schemes and materials, than the ICE version’s cabin.
The electric SUV is expected to share much of its feature list with the ICE counterpart- a panoramic sunroof, triple-screen cluster, 12-speaker JBL audio with Dolby Atmos, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual-zone climate control, wireless charger, ventilated front seats, a 360-degree camera, rear sunshades and others.
The Sierra.EV will be underpinned by the same ARGOS platform as the ICE version. This is a multi energy platform. Two battery packs are expected- 55 kWh and 65 kWh. It is also likely that Tata offers a larger 75kWh unit on higher variants. Time remains before we learn more about this. For perspective, the BE6 already offers a 79kWh battery on higher trims. The e-SUV could also come with an integrated drive unit.
The Sierra.EV is expected to be offered with the choice of All Wheel Drive (AWD) from day one. Mahindra BE6 is only available with a Rear Wheel Drive setup. Having AWD variants on offer will give the Sierra.EV a significant upper hand over the Mahindra.
Tata Motors knows just how important the affordable and small EV segments are in generating volumes. To expand its foothold in the same, the carmaker recently rolled out Battery as a Service (BaaS) scheme on the facelifted Punch.EV. This is expected to make its way to other affordable Tata EV models in the near term.
The Tiago.EV, an important product for the carmaker in its segment, will reportedly get BAAS in its upcoming facelift. Expected to be out sometime this year, the facelift will bring design changes and in-cabin improvements to the Tiago.EV.
Additionally, the electric hatchback could also get larger battery packs. The outgoing model comes with 19.2kWh and 24kWh units. These could possibly be replaced with larger units, details of which are unknown at the time of writing. BaaS could also be introduced to bring the upfront costs further down and appeal to a wider set of buyers.
The Tiago competes primarily with the MG Comet EV in India. If the above changes materialise, life would get difficult for the Comet. At present, BaaS scheme is already available on the Comet, giving it a visible pricing advantage. Once this makes it to the Tiago.EV, the two will have to compete purely on merit.
The Comet is much more compact than the Tiago and comes with a smaller 17.3 kWh battery pack (with a claimed range of 230 km). Larger battery packs being introduced on the Tiago.EV will thus be a move that MG would find hard to ignore.
Image for representation only
Tata Motors is expected to launch an electric SUV based on the Safari sometime around festive season this year. The Safari.EV will likely be underpinned by the same Acti.EV+ platform as the outgoing Harrier.EV, and is likely to borrow one of its battery packs.
Reports also suggest that Tata will introduce a larger 80kWh battery pack on the Safari.EV. In this case, it will likely be offered on the higher trims. AWD will be offered on higher trims, while lower ones will feature RWD. Time remains before we learn more about the e-SUV’s technical specifications.
The Safari.EV will be the first three-row electric SUV. When launched, it will compete primarily with the Mahindra XEV 9S and the Kia Carens Clavis EV. The 9S was launched in November last year and is already in great demand. It commands long waiting periods and is already outselling the XEV 9e coupe.
The heightened demand for this product has made one thing clear- Indian EV buyers are loving the idea of three-row EVs, although the space remain largely untapped. If Tata manages to price and package the Safari.EV well, it will be able to outsell the Mahindra, especially when it enjoys a clear edge due to the presence of AWD.
Tata Motors also plans to enter the luxury EV space with the Avinya range. The Avinya will be a family of electric vehicles, and not a standalone model. Internally referred to as P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5, these will be a mix of SUVs, crossovers, and MPVs, expected to launch between 2026 and 2030.
While most other Tata EVs are based on converted ICE platforms, the Avinya range will be underpinned by a pure EV platform. This will be a heavily localised version of Jaguar Land Rover’s EMA platform. The use of this skateboard will help in generating maximum space inside and in enabling several software-driven functions. The size of the battery pack is expected to be in the range of 70-90 kWh. Both RWD and AWD configurations are likely to be offered.
The Avinya range will also be rich in technology and features. When launched, these will compete with Mahindra’s upcoming electric SUVs and with a few premium/ luxury models that MG plans to bring to India as CBU imports in the near term. In the latter case, the Avinya range will likely enjoy a massive pricing advantage due to local manufacturing and high degrees of localisation.