- Tata's first Avinya EV is expected in 2027
- To use a platform from the Chery-JLR ecosystem
Tata's Avinya has taken a long route to production. First shown in 2022, it is now expected to arrive in India in 2027. By then, however, it will have a bigger job than simply adding another EV to Tata's portfolio. It needs to establish Avinya as a premium offering.
Tata already has one of India's widest EV portfolios, spanning the Punch EV, Nexon EV, Curvv EV and Harrier EV. The company deserves credit for making electric cars accessible to a much wider audience, but most of its EVs are still perceived as mainstream products. The Harrier EV is arguably the first to move closer to a genuinely premium experience.
Avinya needs to take that a step further
When the concept was unveiled, the plan was to use JLR's Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA), giving the project an obvious technological and luxury connection. That plan has since changed. Tata is now expected to use the Freelander platform developed through the Chery-Jaguar Land Rover joint venture, with the first production model, understood to be the Avinya X, targeted for 2027.
There is a practical reason for this change. Developing a completely new premium EV architecture for relatively limited volumes would be expensive and time-consuming. Using an existing platform should allow Tata to get Avinya to market sooner and make the business case more viable. But the platform itself cannot be the selling point.
Mahindra has already raised the bar
This is where Mahindra becomes particularly relevant. The XEV 9e, 9S, and BE 6 have shown that an Indian carmaker can make an EV feel genuinely premium without a luxury badge on the bonnet. Mahindra created a dedicated electric family around the INGLO architecture, gave the cars distinctive designs and built cabins that feel considerably more upmarket than its previous products.
The response was equally telling. The two models together received 30,179 bookings on the first day, with the top-end 79kWh Pack Three accounting for 73 per cent of bookings.
More importantly, Mahindra has changed how buyers perceive its EVs. The XEV 9e, for example, doesn't feel like an expensive version of an existing Mahindra. It feels like a completely new product with its own identity.
That is the challenge for Avinya
It cannot simply be a bigger, more powerful and more expensive Tata EV. The customer needs to feel that Avinya sits above the existing Tata range.
The Harrier EV provides a useful starting point. Its larger dimensions, sophisticated cabin, ADAS, all-wheel-drive capability and extensive technology have helped Tata move further upmarket. But Avinya needs to create a clearer separation.
The buyer shouldn't think, this is a very well-equipped Tata. They should think, this is something different from Tata's existing cars.
The JLR connection is still important, but different
The JLR angle remains interesting, although it is no longer as straightforward as originally expected.
Tata's initial Avinya plan centred around JLR's EMA platform. Instead, it is now tapping into the Chery-JLR ecosystem. JLR and Chery are developing electric vehicles under the revived Freelander name, with Chery providing the underlying EV architecture and JLR contributing its design expertise.
That relationship gives Tata access to technology and expertise from an ecosystem that is already working on premium-oriented electric vehicles. But Tata shouldn't rely too heavily on the JLR connection to sell Avinya. Avinya needs to establish its own identity. If Tata has to repeatedly explain the JLR or Chery connection to convince buyers that the car is premium, then the product itself hasn't done enough.
Tata has an opportunity to do premium differently
This is where Avinya could take a different route from Mahindra.
Mahindra's electric SUVs are futuristic, feature-heavy and performance-oriented. Avinya doesn't necessarily need to follow the same formula. The original concept had a more minimalist, spacious and lounge-like character, and that could become its biggest strength.
A successful Avinya should focus on the things that actually make a car feel premium: excellent seats, a quiet and comfortable cabin, high-quality materials, polished software, strong charging performance, good range and a genuinely refined driving experience.
The Indian EV market will also be considerably more competitive by 2027. Mahindra has already shown that an Indian manufacturer can build an aspirational EV, while Tata itself has spent years creating the country's mass-market EV ecosystem.
That makes Avinya's task fairly simple to define, even if executing it won't be. It doesn't need to be the most expensive Tata EV. It needs to be the car that makes Tata feel premium. After years of anticipation, anything less could make Avinya just another EV in an increasingly crowded market.
