Bullish on new demand in EV space, Mahindra unveils XEV 9S

Bengaluru: Charting its course in the electric mobility landscape with a diverse product stable and strengthening charging network, homegrown auto giant Mahindra launched its premium e-SUV, the XEV 9S, on Thursday.

Positioned as “India’s first authentic electric origin 7-seater SUV”, the XEV 9S has been developed ground-up on the INGLO architecture and is expected to push the boundaries of the country’s disruptive EV space.

“A large part of the Indian mindset is that two extra seats (in a car) is a great optionality, especially for large families or those wanting to travel with friends. Our goal is to give our customers choice,” Mahindra & Mahindra Executive Director (Auto and Farm Sectors) Rajesh Jejurikar said.

The SUV features a spacious three-row layout, a whisper-quiet drive experience, and multiple segment-leading technologies. It is powered by Mahindra’s Artificial Intelligence Architecture (MAIA) and comes in six variants. Its advanced LFP battery — offered with a lifetime warranty — claims a real-world 500-km range.
Mahindra has already seen strong traction in its EV line-up. Over the last seven months, the company sold over 30,000 EVs, including the BE 6 and XEV 9e, garnering around Rs 8,000 crore in revenue. “While the XEV 9e contributed roughly 60% to overall sales, BE 6 clocked the remaining 40%. We have received an amazing response from South India, while the West has done decently as well. We believe that the XEV 9S will be an attractive proposition in the North markets, where a segment exists with demand for the two extra seats and a large SUV design. The car will redefine the segment,” Jejurikar said.

The automaker currently rolls out its born-electric vehicles from its Chakan plant. With the introduction of the XEV 9S, Mahindra expects to scale to 8,000 EV units a month, and sell close to 7,000 units across its EV portfolio by the end of this fiscal. “How much will it be?... It’ll be a function of cannibalisation and so on,” he noted. Mahindra currently sells between 4,000 and 5,000 EVs monthly.

In Q2 this year, EVs accounted for 8.7% of Mahindra’s total sales, while for the industry, it was 5.5%, Jejurikar told DH.

On exports, Mahindra plans a cautious entry, first targeting right-hand-drive markets. “We believe that EV customers are far more open to newer brands coming in, so the ability to get brand traction is probably greater than conventional ICE models. But this hypothesis needs to be tested. There are a couple of countries we are studying at the moment,” he revealed.

As part of its wider electrification roadmap, Mahindra will install 250 ultrafast charging stations with over 1,000 charging points by 2027 under its Charge_IN network. These will support 180 kW chargers capable of powering Mahindra’s eSUVs from 20% to 80% in just 20 minutes.

Mahindra has priced the XEV 9S between Rs 19.95 lakh and Rs 29.45 lakh (ex-showroom). Bookings open on January 14, 2026, and deliveries begin on January 23.