Premium EV sales are rising in India, share in total EV sales tripled in two years: MC Analysis

India's premium EV market is growing fast

India’s fascination with electric four wheelers is not only limited to the likes of Tata and MG Motors, but is also moving towards the premium segment, according to a Moneycontrol analysis.

Of the 90,354 EV four-wheelers registered across the country in 2024, 6.6 percent or 5,926 belonged to brands whose cars were worth over Rs 20 lakh, primary among them were Chinese manufacturers BYD and German luxury automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Elon Musk’s Tesla is now vying to enter the market. Earlier this week, the company announced plans to hire employees for sales and marketing positions in India. Media reports suggest that the company is eyeing showroom space in Delhi and Mumbai to open its first stores in the country.

Although India is still to catch up to Tesla’s 1.8 million sales in 2024, analysis shows that the share of premium brands in India’s EV sales has tripled over the last two years from 2.3 percent, even as EV sales have tripled.

India’s sales went up to 90,354 from 33,215 in 2023. Just four years ago, India had sold just 3,275 electric four-wheelers.

Go for premium

India’s fascination with the premium market is not just limited to EVs. Analysis shows that the share of premium brands in Indian market has also been growing.

Take the case of two luxury German brands, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The two have witnessed a 28 percent rise in sales over the last two years, selling over 31,000 cars in 2024.

Nearly 47 percent of cars sold in 2022 were priced above Rs 10 lakh. Data shows that Rs 15-40 lakh segment witnessed the highest growth in the last few years.

Where does Tesla sell its cars?

For now, the biggest market for Tesla after the US has been China. According to data from World Population Review, the company sold nearly as many vehicles in China as its home country in 2023, with Germany and France being the second largest markets with over 60,000 vehicles sold.

If Tesla could corner even half the sales of premium EV segment, India would outsell markets like Greece, Slovenia, Czech and Estonia with Tesla has a presence.