In the absence of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, the electric passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales have fallen down in August, in both year-on-year (y-o-y) and on sequential basis, while electric two-wheeler sales continue to grow.
The electric PV sales in August declined by 10 per cent y-o-y to 6,338 units compared with 7,040 units in the corresponding month last year. In July also, the retail sales of electric PVs declined by around three per cent y-o-y to 7,541 units against 7,768 in July 2023.
Electric PV market leader Tata Motors reported retail sales of 4,086 units in August, a decline of 14.57 per cent y-o-y compared with 4,783 units in August 2023.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) also reported a decline of 22 per cent y-o-y to 317 units in August compared with 406 units in the same month last year. Kia India and Hyundai Motor India also reported decline in sales by 36 per cent and 79 per cent y-o-y, respectively, the latest retail sales data shared by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said.
However, JSW MG Motor India reported a growth of 12 per cent y-o-y in its electric PV sales to 1,353 units during the month against 1,208 units in August 2023.
In the luxury cars segment, Audi India, BMW India and Volvo India reported decline in sales. Mercedes-Benz India reported a growth of 128.5 per cent y-o-y to 48 units compared with 21 units in August last year.
Policy measures
According to experts tracking the industry, with no subsidies other than five per cent on GST, the electric PV sales have come down. Last week, the government has also said that there was no need to provide subsidy to EV makers as consumers are now choosing EVs or CNG vehicles on their own.
Speaking at an event last week, Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways had said, “The GST on a petrol/ diesel vehicles is 48 per cent, the GST on an electric vehicle is only five per cent. Still, after getting five per cent GST, if someone is expecting subsidy from the government, my honest opinion is now we don’t need subsidies.”
G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant had also said that the government was taking several policy measures to encourage a shift towards electric mobility in the country. “We have had a policy framework where the tax on electric vehicles is just five per cent compared with 48 per cent on hybrids which we intend to continue over a long period of time. Our policy is that we push for more and more electrification in mobility through all the policy levers available including CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) norms. So we will relentlessly push for India becoming a green mobility destination,” he said.
In the electric two-wheeler segment, with the continuation of the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme, 2024 (EMPS) for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers, the electric two-wheeler sales have seen growth of 41 per cent y-o-y to 88,472 units in August compared with 62,779 units in August 2023.
In July, the growth was more than 100 per cent y-o-y to 1,07,016 units compared with 54,616 units in July 2023.