Mahindra to invest up to ₹176 crore in car-rental startup Zoomcar

Automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd said on Friday that it would be investing ₹176 crore in car-rental startup Zoomcar. Mahindra & Mahindra which is part of $19 billion Mahindra Group, said it would be making the investment in Zoomcar India Private Limited and its U.S. incorporated holding parent company Zoomcar Inc. This deal is part of Mahindra’s thrust on the ‘shared mobility business.’

“We are confident that this partnership with Zoomcar will help further our vision to transform mobility in the country, thereby creating a more connected ecosystem,” said Dr. Pawan Goenka, managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, in a statement.

The investment, converted to common stock of Zoomcar Inc on a fully diluted basis, would constitute approximately 16% stake in the company.

Electric Vehicles

Mahindra said it has been keen to invest in the shared mobility space as a part of its strategy to promote and participate in sustainable mobility solutions. This includes multi-modal urban mobility. The firm said it is also doing this with the objective of enabling improved livelihoods and lifestyles of people. Along with the promotion of shared mobility, Mahindra said it has also been promoting electric vehicles.

“Mahindra shares Zoomcar’s vision for multi-modal urban mobility,” said Greg Moran, co-founder and CEO of Zoomcar, in a statement. “We look forward to leveraging their diverse platform to help accelerate the transformation to a shared, electric mobility future for India,” he added.

In 2017, Mahindra and Zoomcar announced a partnership to introduce electric vehicles into the shared mobility space. Zoomcar recently launched Mahindra e20Plus electric vehicles (EVs) across Mysuru, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The company said it expects to add over 500 Mahindra EVs across more than 20 cities pan-India, in the first half of 2018.

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