No, they need to focus on the basics first. Maybe they could do something cool with the interior materials? Similar to using sustainable fabrics that are specific to India. That would give it that special touch.

It’s definitely more than marketing. Mahindra's been on fire with their SUVs lately, and this halo car could be a show of strength that they can hold their own with the big kids in the EV world. Plus it’ll probably help them attract top talent in engineering and design.

Whether the tech will be developed in India will determine how big the impact will be, I think. If it’s mostly imported components it doesn’t do much for our engineering reputation. And we need to show that homegrown innovation.

I don't think it's an either or. In fact, the halo car project may help development of more practical EVs move faster by pushing the envelope of what's possible. It’s like F1 tech eventually works its way into regular cars.

I think Mahindra's gonna come out of this and surprise a lot of people. They've been killing it in Formula E and that experience will surely transfer over into some serious performance. And they have that Indian jugaad spirit — they might come up with some clever solutions we haven’t seen before.