‘Deal with EVs like devices’: Tata Electric Mobility CCO Vivek Srivatsa on resale fears, Sierra EV, worth parity with ICE and why Gen Z is the subsequent large wager

Tata Motors had its strongest 12 months ever in FY26, promoting highest annual volumes of over 92,000 EVs. At the centre of the corporate’s subsequent section is the Sierra EV, the reincarnation of one in every of India’s iconic automobile nameplates from the Nineteen Nineties.

Ahead of its launch, ET spoke to Vivek Srivatsa, Chief Commercial Officer of Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited, about who the automobile is constructed for, how Tata plans to handle the resale worth nervousness that also haunts many EV fence-sitters, and what the corporate’s investor deck projecting Gen Z patrons to almost double by 2030 truly means for product technique.

On Sierra EV and who it’s constructed for

When requested about Sierra EV’s positioning, Srivatsa stated “we are focusing on the mid-SUV buyer. It is usually a customer who has a family of four, who is either running his own business or employed, with an income of more than one lakh rupees a month. Usually living in tier-one, tier-two cities. A typical well-to-do upper-middle-class family. This is probably their second or third car. They want a car which flags their status in society, but at the same time they do not want to compromise on the practicality aspect.”

Tata’s personal investor presentation from its Investor Day 2026 exhibits this phase is strictly the place the corporate sees the majority of future quantity. The mid and excessive SUV segments collectively grew over 20 p.c in H2 FY26, and the corporate’s personal information initiatives SUVs crossing 60 p.c of the overall passenger car market by FY31.

Srivatsa added that the timing of the Sierra’s arrival was deliberate. “In the last six months, since the West Asia conflict heightened, EV interest is growing dramatically. Our own inquiries have grown three times. Sierra offers a very good mid-SUV in an EV package, which is actually missing in the market. That is why it becomes the right car at the right time.”

On EV’s resale worth

When requested Srivatsa about EV resale nervousness, he stated, “resale value is something the Indian car buyer anchors on when buying, and I am talking about the ICE category. People buy a car thinking that in four or five years I will sell it and upgrade.”

However, he argued that EVs require a special psychological framework altogether.”EVs should be bought more with a gadget mindset rather than an automotive mindset. We don’t buy our phones or laptops keeping in mind resale value. It is more about, I pay money for what I get, and the more I use it the better value I get out of it.”

He pointed to an fascinating buyer behaviour that Tata has been observing. When the corporate gives loyalty bonuses to its present EV clients and invitations them to improve, a lot of them maintain on to their previous EV and cross it down throughout the household moderately than promoting it. That, he stated, displays how EV possession psychology is already evolving.

But he additionally acknowledged {that a} used EV market will finally have to be constructed, and that it can’t occur with out some joint effort.

“At some point we will have to build a used EV market, not just for resale value but also to make EVs more affordable for smaller towns. If the government is willing to incentivise that, it will definitely make the job easier. Used car finance is very expensive today. Maybe the government can mandate something around used EV finance and reduce the interest burden.”

On Tata’s personal tasks, he stated the corporate must construct buyer confidence round battery well being. “Having some kind of process to assure the customer about battery life and warranty, having additional warranty for used EVs, is something we can do as a manufacturer.”

On West Asia disaster & gasoline costs driving EV gross sales

When requested about what truly is driving the present surge in EV consideration in India, Srivatsa stated, “the biggest surge in EV demand has happened during the West Asia crisis where there was an imminent risk that fuel availability might be impacted. We started seeing queuing up and rationing of fuel at fuel pumps, and there was a little bit of panic. EV is seen as a safer option where you can just charge at home.”

On the subject of ethanol-blended gasoline and whether or not confusion round compatibility and mileage is nudging fence-sitters towards EVs, he stated, “ethanol blending is a peripheral part, but I don’t think that is motivating customers to move from ICE to EV. That is too trivial an aspect.”

On flex-fuel automobiles particularly, he noticed no battle with EV adoption. “Flex fuel is still ICE. That fundamentally remains an ICE option. I don’t think flex fuel and EV adoption have any direct relationship.”

On Battery-as-a-Service: entry-level device, not a common play

Tata launched Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) with the Punch EV, permitting patrons to buy the automobile with out the battery pack and pay for battery utilization individually, bringing the upfront sticker worth down significantly.

Srivatsa stated the mannequin will lengthen throughout the vary however that it issues most the place it solves an actual downside.

“We will see it across all the products, but it makes more sense in the entry segment because that is where accessibility is a bigger issue. At higher price points, accessibility is not such an issue. But I should say that penetration of BaaS is extremely low, because ultimately it is an EMI option, a battery EMI option. It is just a financial tool.”

On defending every mannequin’s lane

With Nexon, Punch, Curvv, Harrier and now Sierra all present in Tata’s EV lineup, the query of overlap is pure. Srivatsa stated, “it is important to realise that the EV market is really expanding very fast now and no longer does one product completely cannibalise the other. Even on the EV side, people are saying I want an entry EV, I want a hatch, I want a small SUV, I want a mid SUV. As the market matures and grows, it is growing fast because there are more options. Since these products are already coexisting on the ICE side, similarly they will coexist and mutually benefit each other on the EV side as well.”

Tata’s investor deck backs this up with numbers. The firm is focusing on 15 nameplates by FY31, with six new nameplates and over 20 refreshes deliberate, whereas aiming for 20 p.c market share general.

Gen Z and the subsequent wave of patrons

Tata’s personal investor presentation exhibits Gen Z’s share amongst automobile patrons is predicted to rise from 14 p.c in 2025 to 32 p.c by 2030. That is a near-doubling inside 5 years.

Srivatsa stated, “Tata is one of the companies making more effort to understand Gen Zs and move technology and design upwards to cater to our younger and more evolved buyer in the future. For example, in 2020 when we went electric with the Nexon, no other manufacturer had gone in that direction. Today EVs are seen as a prime solution for Gen Z.”

On EVs closing the worth hole with petrol automobiles

Tata’s personal information exhibits that EV penetration for the corporate stood at 40 p.c or extra of its personal gross sales in FY26. The firm’s FY31 ambition is to push that to 30 p.c EV penetration throughout its whole quantity. But the sticker worth differential between EVs and ICE equivalents stays a reside concern for patrons.

Srivatsa stated, “We should look at on-road price. EVs are automatic transmission, they don’t have a clutch. So the comparison should be on-road with the relevant automatic transmission vehicles. In that case it is around 20 percent. If you look at a 10 lakh car, it is only 2 lakh difference in price, not 5 lakh.”

The firm’s investor deck units out a transparent goal: worth parity for EVs with ICE equivalents within the mid and premium SUV segments, with the Curvv, Harrier and Sierra particularly cited because the automobiles the place that parity will first be achieved.

What Tata is banking on with the Sierra is that when that purchaser walks right into a showroom and sees a mid-SUV with AWD (all-wheel drive), a revived nameplate, and a worth that’s inching nearer to its petrol equal, the choice turns into a bit of simpler than it was even a 12 months in the past.