Maruti has been testing its WagonR electric car all over India and recently the test mule was spotted in hill stations like Kufri and Manali where the EV was tested to survive in a sub-0-degree temperature. As per the recent buzz, Maruti WagonR EV has become the most-spotted test mule in India.
The initial plan was to launch the electric car in the year 2020, but that did not go forward as Covid19 was believed to be the reason for the delay. Now reports claim that the plan to launch WagonR electric car in India has been shelved. This comes at a time when the test mules of WagonR electric or what was claimed to be XLV EV, continues to be on test near the company’s plant in Manesar.
The Maruti EV project faced several delays in the past, though there is no official update or announcement on the shelved plans of the WagonR electric, unofficial sources have confirmed that the company has decided to halt the project due to “techno-commercial viability issues”.
The WagonR electric car was going to have several imported components which would have led to an increase in the cost of the project. The increase in costs indicated that Maruti wasn’t sure if the pricing of the product would be appropriate for it to bag huge sales.
Most of the Maruti products manage good monthly sales of 4,000-5,000 units or more. Hence, Maruti didn’t want to bring in the WagonR EV if it would have been able to manage just triple-digit sales.
Earlier Maruti had started the WagonR electric project in the year 2018 by testing on 50 units of WagonR which were based on the model that is sold in Japan. Later in 2019, Maruti built new prototypes which were based on the Indian WagonR and continued with its testing.
