Hybrid cars surpass electric vehicle sales in India's auto market
Hybrid cars are rapidly gaining popularity in India overtaking battery electric vehicle sales for three straight months this financial year.
New car buyers are taking a penchant for the handful of hybrid vehicles currently on sale in the Indian market such as Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder, Honda City and Toyota Innova Hycross. The increasing demand for fuel-efficient hybrid cars underscores customers’ growing environmental awareness and concern over the limited range and charging infrastructure challenges posed by fully electric cars.
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Sales of strong hybrid vehicles totalled 24,062 units in the three months to November, compared to 21,445 electric vehicles sold in the same period. This, despite the availability of a larger number of electric cars currently — 16 EVs compared to 4 strong hybrids.
Hybrid vehicle sales have been gradually gaining traction this financial year, before finally overtaking EV sales in the past three months. As many as 25,200 electric cars were sold in the local market compared to 14,400 strong hybrid vehicles in the June quarter. The gap narrowed in the September quarter when automakers sold 23,900 EVs and 22,000 string hybrids. However, from September onwards, strong hybrids have started outselling EVs, as per industry data.
Ease of owning hybrid vehicles which do not require dedicated charging infrastructure like EVs, better mileage compared to petrol cars, and lower acquisition costs are driving demand, said senior industry executives.
Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at market leader Maruti Suzuki confirmed sales of strong hybrid
