EV sales cross 10,000 units for the first time in October 2024

Festive season demand has led to highest-ever monthly EV sales, countering overall industry slowdown.

Published On Nov 05, 2024 01:12:00 PM

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After a dismal September, which saw electric passenger vehicle sales hit a 17-month low of 6,098 units, October 2024 with a 38 percent year-on-year increase has given a fresh charge with retails crossing the 10,000-mark for the first time in a single month. This was driven by festive season cheer, increased product availability, enhanced financing options and OEM discounts. Demand for luxury EVs also rose strongly by 39 percent year-on-year to 311 units.

October 2024 EV sales beat the FAME II subsidy-ending month of March 2024 (9,769 units), and also sets the pace for the passenger vehicle segment to go past CY2023’s total sales of 82,561 units early in November 2024.

The Vahan-sourced retail sales data table above reveals that October’s five-figure retails of 10,534 EVs are a sizeable 73 percent month-on-month increase over September’s 6,094 units, proof that discounts offered by carmakers during festive season have clicked in a big way.

Tata Motors EV sales

6,125 units sold in October 2024

Tata Motors sold 6,125 EVs in October 2024, up 9.53 percent on its October 2023’s 5,592 units and improving upon September 2024’s 3,778 units by 62 percent. This gives the company an EV market share of 58 percent in October and 65 percent for the cumulative January-October 2024 period. Both, however, are down on Tata Motors’ year-ago market shares – 73 percent in October 2023 and 74 percent for January-October 2023.

What would have helped Tata Motors in October were the sizeable price cuts on its EVs other than the new Curvv EV. Ahead of the festive season, Tata Motors slashed prices of its EV range for a limited period. The company was also offering six months of free charging at any of the over 5,500 Tata Power charging points across the country, as a value add. Tata Motors has, in the first 10 months of CY2024, retailed 52,503 EVs, which is an increase of 5 percent year-on-year (January-October 2023: 49,823 EVs).

JSW MG Motor India EV sales

2,509 units sold in October 2024

JSW MG Motor India sold a record 2,509 units in October, up 166 percent on year-ago sales of 944 units and up 150 percent month-on-month on September 2024 (1,005 units), which were its lowest in the first 10 months of CY2024. October’s performance gives JSW MG a market share of 24 percent. Cumulative 10-month retails of 14,270 units have crossed the company’s entire CY2023 total of 9,523 units.

A bulk of these numbers have come from the Windsor, MG’s third EV for India, which went on sale in early September, with deliveries commencing in October. The Windsor was, in fact, the first passenger EV in India to garner 15,176 bookings in just 24 hours, which can be attributed to the unique BAAS service introduced with the Windsor. MG is also upping the ante on the sales network front by expanding to Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities as well as rural markets across India. There are plans to set up 100 new touchpoints by the end of 2024, and setting up 520 touchpoints in 270 cities by the end of March 2025.

Mahindra EV sales

902 units sold in October 2024

October was a good month for Mahindra because its sole EV – the XUV400 – sold a total of 902 units, the best performance in the year to date. The company’s best monthly sales were in April 2023 (537 units). The XUV400 has been available with discounts of over Rs 2 lakh for over a year now, and some units, likely from the MY2023 production batches, are being offered with discounts of up to a whopping Rs 4.40 lakh. Expect these to have contributed to Mahindra’s strong performance in October this year.

This gives the company an 8.56 percent market share for October and a 7.58 percent share for the January-October 2024 period with total sales of 6,090 – up 101 percent YoY (January-October 2023: 3,031 units). Mahindra had sold 4,267 XUV400s in CY2023.

BYD India EV sales

361 units sold in October 2024

In October 2024, BYD sold 361 EVs, up 110 percent on September 2024’s 172 units but below July 2024’s 355 units. Last month’s strong sales take the Chinese carmaker’s cumulative 10-month sales to 2,143 units, 131 more than its entire CY2023 retails of 2,012 units. BYD, which sells three premium EVs in our market, maintains its number four position in the EV space.

Citroen EV sales

254 units sold in October 2024

After hitting best-ever monthly sales of 387 units in September 2024, Citroen sold 254 units in October. The company, with its sold eC3, is seeing growing demand particularly from EV fleet operators. Between March and June 2024, the eC3 has received bulk orders for over 7,000 units from Blusmart, OHM E Logistics and Cab-E. By end-October, Citroen with 1,710 units has already achieved 88 percent of its CY2023 sales of 1,949 units.

Hyundai and Kia EV sales

68 units combined sold in October 2024

The two Korean carmakers in India – Hyundai and Kia – have together sold a total of 68 EVs in October. Hyundai, which has discontinued the Kona in India, and had clocked three-figure sales in January-March 2024, has seen sales slow down substantially since then. In October, only 33 units Ioniq 5s were delivered to customers. Hyundai’s cumulative January-October 2024 sales at 865 units are down 34 percent year-on-year (January-October 2023: 1,314 units). Hyundai had sold a total of 1,608 EVs in CY2023.

Luxury EV sales

311 units sold in October 2024

Deliveries of luxury electric cars rose strongly by 39 percent year-on-year in October 2024 to 311 units (October 2023: 224 units). The cumulative 10-month January-October 2024 retails also reflect strong 24 percent year-on-year growth – the 2,269 units constitute an additional 438 EVs over the 1,831 units sold in the year-ago period.

BMW India, which is the luxury EV market leader in the first 10 months of 2024 (948 units), sold 139 units in October, up 48 percent YoY, but sees Mercedes-Benz India with 146 units go ahead last month. BMW India has a luxury EV market share of 45 percent in October and 42 percent (948 units) for the first 10 months of this year.

Mercedes-Benz India sold 146 EVs in October 2024 – this is its best monthly retail sales in the year, after April’s 134 units, and give it a 47 percent share of the market. Its combined January-October 2024 sales (723 EVs) are up 96 percent year-on-year (January-October 2023: 369 EVs) and give it a 32 percent share of the luxury EV market in the year to date. Importantly, for the German carmaker, it has raced past its CY2023 total of 516 units.

While luxury EVs accounted for 3 percent of the overall EV market in October, their share of the India electric car and SUV market in the first 10 months of this year was the same at 2.83 percent. All said and done, at a cumulative 80,238 units sold in the January-October 2024 period, the Indian electric passenger vehicle industry will surpass its entire CY2023's retails of around 82,500 units very soon.

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