19 January,2009 08:16 PM IST | | PTI
Passenger car and commercial vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra has plans to launch fuel-efficient hybrid and electric vehicles in the near future, a top company official said today.
"We have to develop technologies for hybrid and electric vehicles. In a couple of years, we will launch hybrid and electric vehicles," M&M Head (Design) B Bhaumik told reporters on the sidelines of the 3rd Styling and Design conclave by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) here today.
M&M has already drawn up plans to launch a few more products from the Ingenio platform in the next two years. The launches will be both in the passenger vehicle as well as the commercial vehicle segments of truck and low-tonnage vehicles.
"India's automotive designing has a big potential. We need a design development institute for the automotive sector, which should be developed in public-private partnership and function as a professional training centre," Tokyo Design International Inc CEO Ichiro Hatayama said.
India will have to work hard to create world-class car designers, Hatayama said.
There will be a paradigm shift in the automotive sector between FY '15 and FY'25, when the need for fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles arise, he said.
"M&M is spending Rs 100-crore per annum on productive segments, which includes software development, prototyping, testing and in-house infrastructure to develop new models," Bhaumik said, adding that the company has 10 professional designers.
