The electric vehicle (EV) industry in India is poised to see an ‘exponential' growth in the upcoming future with more adoption of EVs in the country even after the withdrawal of subsidies, according to Amar Jatin Sheth, secretary of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations, India (FADA).
The Indian electric vehicle space is buzzing with major two-wheeler manufacturers, such as Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Ltd., recently announcing the launch of the Activa e: and QC1 and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. announcing the launch of the XEV 9e.
As per the VAHAN EV auto sales data, so far in FY25, Tata Motors led the segment with 61% sales compared to 71% EV sales in FY24.
Talking to NDTV Profit, Sheth said that while the absolute EV sales numbers in India still remain small, it shows that there is a lot of headroom left for growth.
“In the two-wheeler space, in the festive period we have seen around 1.3 lakh units of EVs being sold; if you compare that with the total number, which is close to around 25 lakh to 30 lakh units, then that is only around 6%, and that is high,” he said.
However, this scenario is changing as “adoption is happening,” the FADA secretary added.
“We have seen a withdrawal of subsidiaries that might have temporarily caused a setback because any price change takes a little time to be accepted,” he said.
“In developed markets, we have also seen sporadic growth, and more and more numbers will suddenly spike, and I expect this segment to grow exponentially,” Sheth said.
Currently, the EV penetration in the passenger vehicle segment is about 2-2.5%, which translates to about 10,000 units, he noted.
“In passenger vehicles we are seeing reputed players unlike the electric two-wheelers… The Mahindras and Tatas are in the market and have a lot of pedigree behind them,” the FADA secretary said.
These companies will aid a quicker EV adoption, because according to Sheth, they have been able to “bridge the difference” of the premium price that customers had to pay if they wanted to buy an EV four-wheeler as compared to a regular combustion engine.
“Tata and Mahindra have been able to bridge that difference. There is no longer a large gap between what you would pay for a petrol or a diesel engine or what you would pay for an EV, so adoption will be much quicker because of this,” he said.
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