Tata Motors Preparing to Take on The UK EV Market

The freshly signed India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has proven to be advantageous to a lot of automobile manufacturers.
Tata Motors is planning on using this agreement as leverage to more or less ‘re-enter’ the UK market via their EV subdivision by exporting Indian-made EVs to the UK for sale. 
 

During the media interactions at the Tata Sierra EV launch event, Tata motors CEO Sailesh Chandra stated 
“We are starting to tap that market opportunity. The go-to-market plan itself requires about two to two and a half years of work, and that process has now begun.”
He also outlined that preparing for the UK market involves a very lengthy process of prerequisites including:
 

• Vehicle Certification and Homologation
• Compliance with local regulations
• Establishing sales channels and distribution networks
• Setting up after-sales service networks

This is set to be a long term plan, with preparations and procedures underway and the UK customers to see the first batch of Tata EVs in showrooms within around two to two-and-a-half years.

The Trade Deal Catalysing the Move

The real catalyst behind Tata’s timing is the upcoming India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Under the proposed framework, Indian-manufactured electric vehicles will gain duty-free access to the UK market via a structured quota system. Starting in the sixth year of the agreement, India will be granted a duty-free export quota of 17,600 vehicles annually, which is slated to scale up to 88,000 units per year by year fifteen.

For Tata, this allows them to price their EVs competitively against established European and Chinese rivals without taking a massive hit on profits.

The Cars Leading the Charge

Tata Motors is already and has always been the leading OEM in Indian Passenger EV sales, with 13,630 EVs being sold in July this year, a 6.5% MoM growth as compared to the 12,796 units sold in June and a 102% YoY sales increase.

Cracking the UK EV market however could prove to be an entirely different challenge with a lot more competition and lacking the advantage of being among the first in the EV space. As for which cars will lead the charge in the UK, two main platforms are expected to be utilized:

1. Tata Sierra EV: Expected to be sold in more or less the same specifications as the Indian version currently on sale.
2. The Avinya Range: Being Tata's global all electric premium platform, it is highly likely to be one of the first in line to enter the UK Market.
    

This would mark Tata's official attempt to 're-enter' the UK market after their previous venture with Rover, selling the Tata Indica as the CityRover, went poorly. 

Tata motors also posses the advantage of Designing and Manufacturing Right-Hand drive cars from the get go, thus not requiring much further adaptations to the basic architecture of the interiors.

Part of a Larger 2031 Vision

This overseas expansion isn't just a side experiment but rather a key piece in Tata’s strategy to scale annual passenger vehicle sales past the 1.2 million units mark by FY2031, while broadening their overall portfolio from nine to fifteen models.

If Tata executes its UK entry smoothly over the next couple of years, it could establish a blueprint for other Indian OEMs looking to take native EV tech to Western markets.