Electric car sales jump 53% in first half of 2025; strong hybrids catch up

Sales of electric cars soared 53% year-on-year to 74,653 units in the first six months of 2025, according to data sourced from the government’s VAHAN portal.

Sales of strong hybrid cars, which now get incentives such as registration fee waiver in Uttar Pradesh, stood at 52,587 units in H1 2025, with Toyota Kirloskar Motor accounting for over 80% of the total sales, the data showed.

The Japanese carmaker sold 42,242 strong hybrid vehicles from January to June 2025. Toyota has four strong hybrid models in its portfolio: mid-size sport utility vehicle Urban Cruiser Hyryder, multi-purpose vehicles Innova Hycross as well as Vellfire and sedan Camry in India.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd sold 9,809 hybrid vehicles in the first half of 2025, followed by Honda Cars India, which clocked sales of 489 units. German luxury carmaker BMW sold 47 strong hybrid cars in the country in H1 2025.

Even though EV sales have grown, India’s top-selling electric car maker saw a 14% decline in sales. Tata Motors’ EV sales fell from 33,175 units in H1 2024 to 28,453 units in the first half of 2025.

JSW MG Motor India’s EV sales more than trebled from 7,727 units in the first half of 2024 to 24,161 units in the same period this year.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s EV sales zoomed 226% year-on-year to 12,647 units in the first half of 2025 from 3,870 in the corresponding period last year.

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor India saw more than fivefold jump in EV sales this year following the launch of the Creta EV. The carmaker sold 3,927 EVs in the first half of 2025.

Chinese EV giant BYD more than doubled its electric car sales in India to 2,461 units this year. It currently sells four models in the country: Sealion 7, eMax7, Atto 3 and Seal.

German luxury carmakers BMW India, too, doubled its EV sales this year. BMW sold 1,253 EVs in the first six months of 2025 compared with 547 EVs in the same period last year.

Rival Mercedes-Benz India recorded a 57% year-on-year increase in EV sales to 639 units in H1 2025.

Audi, Porsche, Volvo and Citroen witnessed a decline in EV sales in the first of this calendar year. Audi’s EV sales halved to just 43 units in H1 2025 from 85 units in the same period last year. Swedish carmaker Volvo’s EV sales dropped 27% during the same time. Stellantis-owned French carmaker Citroën’s EV sales declined 14%. Porsche’s EV sales fell from 47 units in H1 2024 to 24 units H1 2025.

Kia India, which is set to launch the Carens Clavis EV on July 15, saw a marginal increase in electric car sales from 139 units in H1 2024 to 203 units in H1 2025.

To be clear, India’s EV industry is at a nascent stage, contributing only 3% to total car sales in the country.

India’s EV market has not matured yet and market share really doesn’t carry any significance at this point, said Puneet Gupta, Director of India & ASEAN at S&P Global Mobility. “As we see companies bringing more EV models, it will be a win-win for customers. There will be more positive word of mouth for EVs, customers will have more confidence, there will be more charging stations, and once there are more players, then charging stations will become viable,” Gupta explained.

Gupta expects EV sales to hit an inflection point when the penetration crosses the 4% mark.