Mahindra could launch Pininfarina-badged supercar to rival Tesla ~ station of gear

Pininfarina H2 Speed concept - Geneva show front/side

Indian company's EV technology to be combined with Italian design

2016-07-02 16:32

Indian conglomerate Mahindra could launch a Pininfarina-baged electric supercar as a rival for Tesla at the top end of the electric-car market.

Mahindra's IT division acquired Pininfarina late last year and the Italian design studio has already worked on interiors of Indian-market SUVs for its new owner.

Speaking at the London round of the FIA Formula E championship, in which Mahindra has a team, company chairman Anand Mahindra said: "Our view is that Pininfarina is a brand in and of itself. You don't mess with something that's working. Among Pininfarina's aspirations now that it's part of our group is not simply to design for other brands, but to design their own car, which is something they never had until now."

Mahindra, which recently launched the e2o electric car to the UK market, has also controlled South Korean brand SsangYong since 2011. Dr Pawan Goenka, who oversees SsangYong operations for Mahindra, indicated there would be increased sharing of technology between the two brands in the coming years.

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"We're making continued investment in products," he told us. "We'll have a new platform in 14 or 15 months and a second new platform a year after that. Our focus will remain on SUVs. We also want to develop our presence in western Europe and the UK in a big way. At the moment SsangYong is making around 150,000 cars a year, which is not sufficient. We want to be building 250-300,000 units within five years."

Dr Goenka also said that there will be increasing technical convergence between Mahindra and SsangYong in the coming years, with a common engine, common transaxle and eventually a common platform being developed. However he said there was no immediate plan for SsangYong models to use Mahindra electric drivetrains. "SsangYong is definitely interested in this, but we're still discussing it," he told us.

What do you think of Mahindra's plans? Leave us a comment below!

Stephen Errity

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