Key facts
- Electric car demand in India has surged, leading to wait times of up to three months for popular models.
- Increased fuel prices, influenced by the Iran war, are a primary driver of this demand.
- Luxury automakers Mercedes-Benz and BMW are requesting increased EV allocations due to high demand.
- Maruti Suzuki is experiencing doubled bookings for its new e-Vitara SUV, with a 6-8 week wait.
- Supply chain and supplier ecosystem constraints are limiting production more than customer interest.
Electric car demand in India is experiencing an unprecedented surge, leading to delivery wait times of up to three months for popular models. This sharp increase in interest is largely attributed to rising fuel prices, a situation exacerbated by the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
Luxury car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW are finding their initial EV allocations exhausted and are requesting increased quotas from their global headquarters. Santosh Iyer, managing director at Mercedes-Benz India, reported a 40% surge in battery electric vehicle (BEV) demand since March, with the CLA electric sedan facing a two-to-three-month wait. Similarly, BMW Group India is utilizing inventory originally planned for much later to meet current demand, with its EV share of total sales climbing to 33% in May.
Even Maruti Suzuki, which had a slower start in the EV segment, is seeing doubled bookings for its new e-Vitara SUV, resulting in a 6-8 week waiting period. Partho Banerjee from Maruti Suzuki noted that production cannot be ramped up instantly, with a new production line expected to come online in July.
Other manufacturers are also facing similar backlogs. Mahindra & Mahindra's electric SUVs have waiting periods of six to eight weeks, while Tata Motors' Punch and Tiago EVs require about a six-week wait. JSW MG Motor's EV models, previously available off-the-shelf, now have nearly a month-long waiting period.
Industry executives observe a market shift from manufacturer-led sales to a demand-pull dynamic. Shailesh Chandra of Tata Motors highlighted that while EV bookings constitute 30-33% of total car demand, actual deliveries are only 15-16%, indicating that supply constraints, particularly within the supplier ecosystem, are currently a greater limitation than customer demand.