JSW Group, India’s largest steel producer, recently announced that it has established a joint venture with SAIC Motor called JSW MG Motor India. The joint venture plans to launch a new product every 3 to 6 months, with a focus on new energy vehicles. It will also enter the high-end passenger vehicle market in the future.
JSW is a well-known family business in India. In addition to the steel industry, JSW is also involved in the cement industry and others. At the end of last year, SAIC Motor and JSW Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement in London, England. SAIC will introduce JSW Group as a strategic investor and further support MG India’s expansion of market share through a capital increase. According to reports, the joint venture established by the two parties is worth up to US$1.5 billion and will mainly produce and sell MG-branded electric vehicles in India.
JSW Group holds a 35% stake in the joint venture, and financial institutions, auto dealers and employees will also own a portion of the shares. This will bring the total actual shareholding ratio of the Indian side to 51%, and SAIC will hold 49% of the shares.
The joint venture aims to increase its share of the Indian new energy vehicle market from 2% to 33% by 2030, and plans to sell 1 million electric passenger vehicles that year. JSW also hopes to increase the level of localization while using localized production to reduce costs. The goal is to achieve complete localization, including R&D, by 2030.
JSW MG Motor also plans to expand its business in the high-end passenger vehicle market, with the goal of becoming a leader in the new energy vehicle sector by 2030 and having a full product line from entry-level to high-end models. To achieve its goals in the new energy vehicle market, JSW MG Motor plans to expand its production facilities in Halol, Gujarat, with a focus on increasing production of new energy vehicles. This expansion is expected to increase the automaker’s annual production capacity from the current 100,000 units to a maximum of 300,000 units.
Rajeev Chaba, Honorary Chairman of MG Motor India, said that JSW MG Motor India will invest about $602 million to increase production capacity. As part of the plan, the company also announced that it will build a second plant near its existing plant in Halol, Gujarat. The purpose is also to increase production capacity and launch new products to support the company’s growth and expansion plans in the new energy vehicle sector. Parth Jindal predicts that India’s auto sales will increase from 4 million units to 10 million units in the next decade. Since entering the Indian market in 2019, MG has sold about 200,000 vehicles. In 2023, MG sold about 60,000 units in India, an increase of nearly 25% year-on-year, achieving growth for four consecutive years.
Currently, MG’s market share in the Indian electric vehicle market (2%) is still far lower than Tata’s (70%), but this may change as the overall electric vehicle market heats up. According to statistics, the proportion of electric vehicles in Indian passenger vehicle sales is currently expected to be only 4%, while the government hopes to achieve a market share of 30% by 2030 through a series of measures. Recently, the Indian government has reduced import tariffs on high-priced electric vehicles imported by local production companies. This policy has attracted the interest of many new energy vehicle companies, including Tesla and VinFast.
