Indian EV makers beat the odds to post bumper sales in FY22

Amid rising fuel prices, electric vehicle retail sales in India witnessed over a three-fold jump last fiscal, with two-wheeler offtake leading the segment, according to data compiled by automobile dealers body FADA.

Total electric vehicle (EV) retails reached 4,29,217 units in 2021-22, a rise of three-fold from 1,34,821 units in the financial year 2020-21, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations of India said.

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Total EV sales had stood at 1,68,300 units in the 2019-20 fiscal, FADA noted. Electric passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales stood at 17,802 last fiscal, up over three-fold from 4,984 units in FY21.

The rise in sales comes despite several headwinds for the EV segment. The overall automobile industry has been hit hard over the past year by the economic slowdown due to the pandemic. EV players have additionally faced the challenge of sub-optimal battery-charging infrastructure in India. Additionally, there have been a few incidents of electric two-wheelers catching fire of late, triggering safety concerns.

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Tata Motors leads the pack

Home-grown auto major Tata Motors led the segment with retails of 15,198 units and a market share of 85.37% in the vertical. The Mumbai-based company’s retail sales stood at 3,523 units in 2020-21.

MG Motor India settled into the second place with sales of 2,045 units last fiscal with a market share of 11.49%. It had retailed 1,115 units in the 2020-21 fiscal.

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Mahindra & Mahindra and Hyundai Motor India stood at the third and fourth places, with dispatches of 156 and 128 units respectively, both settling for a market share of less than 1%. M&M and Hyundai had sold 94 and 184 units respectively in the 2020-21 fiscal, FADA data said.

Electric two-wheeler retail sales last fiscal stood at 2,31,338 units, a jump of over five-fold from 41,046 units in 2020-21, it stated. Hero Electric led the segment with sales of 65,303 units, grabbing 28.23% share in the domestic market.

It was followed by Okinawa Autotech, which retailed 46,447 units last fiscal. The third place was taken by Ampere Vehicles with sales of 24,648 units. Hero MotoCorp-backed Ather Energy stood at fourth position with registration of 19,971 units in 2021-22.

Bengaluru-based Ola Electric with sales of 14,371 units stood at the sixth position, while TVS Motor Company with registrations of 9,458 units took the seventh position last financial year.

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FADA, which gathered data from 1,397 of the total 1,605 regional transport offices, said that total electric three-wheeler sales last fiscal stood at 1,77,874 units, registering an increase of two-fold over 88,391 units in the preceding fiscal.

Similarly, FADA noted that electric commercial vehicle sales rose to 2,203 units last financial year as compared with 400 units in FY21.

According to the industry body, the sales numbers do not have figures from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Lakshadweep, and Telangana as they are not yet on Vahan 4, the Central vehicle registration portal.

The number of electric vehicles in the country, as per Vahan 4 data, as of March 25, is 10,76,420. A total of 1,742 Public Charging Stations (PCS), as per the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), are operational in the country, as of March 21, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had said on March 31.