Maruti launches its first EV but sales of electric vehicles across India have flattened

Tata Motors did it way back in 2019. Mahindra followed suit much later, in 2023. Now it’s finally Maruti Suzuki’s turn to join the electric vehicle (EV) bandwagon. After much delay and hesitation, and after over six months of exporting from India, the country’s No. 1 car maker has announced highly competitive pricing for its maiden electric passenger vehicle. The eVitara is priced very close to Maruti’s strong-hybrid Grand Vitara/Victoris. This effectively tilts the total cost-of-ownership equation in favour of the EV over competing hybrid technologies.
While the eVitara launch is likely to support EV penetration in passenger vehicles, it is important to note that the momentum has clearly slackened in electric two-wheelers for some time, and more recently in electric passenger vehicles as well. This is owing to the GST cuts that made petrol/diesel/CNG vehicles more affordable even as EV prices have remained broadly the same.