JSW-MG and Skoda-VW India start partnership talks
JSW MG Motor India and Skoda Auto Volkswagen India have been in linked before and currently are in an exploratory stage, as they evaluate the possibility for a joint venture of sharing platforms, powertrains and even investment.
New Delhi: JSW MG Motor India and Skoda Auto Volkswagen India (SAVWIPL) are in the initial stages of exploring the possibility of sharing platforms, powertrains and even investment, as reported by Autocar Professional. This comes at a time with many carmakers in India are looking at shared vehicle architectures to manage high development costs, strengthen localisation and build scale for upcoming hybrid and electric programmes.
Industry executives have said that both brands have shown interest in exploring either a technical or commercial alignment that might work. It has been reiterated by media sources that these are early talks and not any form of negotiations. Mostly these talks are to understand if there are enough strategic fit to take the idea into the next stage.
Skoda-VW have been linked with JSW before
Of course, even at this initial stage of talks have significance, there’s significance as Skoda-VW have been looking for an indian partner for more than a year, and reports of them exploring the possibility with JSW had emerged earlier as well. Back then, the discussions were fueled by Skoda-VW’s need for capital, local scale and support in their next phase of product development, especially as the group prepared to go for an all-new India-focused platform strategy which would require an investment of around € 1 billion.
There’s a chance for a three-way JSW-SAIC-Skoda-VW structure to be one of the scenarios being explored at this level. Such a partnership will have a much clearer logic as Skoda-VW and SAIC have a long partnership in China, making technology exchange and model sourcing easier.
People who know the situation better said that SAIC is "open to collaborative structures” in order to secure a long-term presence in India, especially as regulatory and geopolitical pressures increase.
This is all very relevant as parallel discussions between JSW Auto and Chery have been marred with difficulties over data accessibility and technology transfer. It is also a reminder of how complex it is for an Indian brand to secure tech transfer rights from Chinese OEMs. Even as the JSW Group makes their joint venture with MG Motor India, JSW is independently setting up JSW Auto, as a separate entity that is targeting launching their own electric car brand by 2027-28 with products and technology based on Chery.
A JSW-MG-SAIC-Skoda-VW framework if it goes forward, would be among the most unusual cross-continental partnerships in India, bringing together European engineering, Chinese electrification ability and Indian industrial scale and market access under one label.