GM ends alliance with Reva

Following the M&M-RECC pact, the GM called off its deal with electric car firm and plans to source Volt’s technology from their global electric vehicle.

India’s Mahindra buys Reva majority stake, GM to Develop New India Electric Car, Ends Reva Deal.

Indian car maker Mahindra and Mahindra said on Wednesday it had bought a majority stake in Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car to strengthen its position in the low-emission electric auto market.

Mahindra, India’s largest sports utility vehicle and tractor maker, bought a 55.2 percent stake in Reva, a global leader in producing low-cost electric cars.

The deal includes buying out equity from the promoters of Reva and providing 450 million rupees (9.5 million dollars) in fresh equity, a statement to the Mumbai stock exchange said. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Reva’s promoters, the Maini family, will hold 31% in Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicle Company while Lon Bell, the co-founder, will hold 11% . Employees with stock options will hold the rest. “We expect that there will be 1.5 million electric cars sold globally. I see no reason why Reva cars will not be 50,000 of that 1.5 million in the next 7 to 10 years; this deal is a part of the larger strategy within the Mahindra group of focusing on sustained mobility,” said Pawan Goenka, president (automotive & farm equipment sectors), Mahindra & Mahindra, who will take over as chairman. Given our expertise in the overall vehicle development, we’ll work closely now with Mahindra Reva to make NXR and NXG a cost competitive and commercially viable product. We have also tied up funds for the first launch for Reva (NXR-NXG).”

GM to Develop New India Electric Car, Ends Reva Deal

Aday after Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd said it was taking a controlling stake in Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Co., General Motors India (GM) scrapped its partnership with the company being acquired, saying it would make use of its own alternative fuel and propulsion technologies. “We plan to look within the General Motors portfolio for alternate technology vehicles,” said Karl Slym, president and managing director of GM India. Its US parent company is working on launching the Volt, a car that runs on batteries and has a small combustion engine that charges the cells as the car runs, giving it a range of 480km. The car is scheduled to be launched in the fourth quarter of this calendar year. The Reva, which operates solely on batteries, has a range of 80km.

The company is on track to launch light commercial vehicles as well as cars brought from its Chinese partner SAIC Corp. by the end of 2011. The cars will be sold in India under the Chevrolet badge. The three light truck models in the one-tonne range will be manufactured at its plant at Halol in Gujarat. It declined to disclose details on the cars to be launched. GM India is a 50-50 partnership between US-based General Motors Corp. and Shanghai-based SAIC Corp.