NEW DELHI: The popularity of hybrid vehicles in the domestic car market has seen a sharp surge over the past one year or so and a large section of consumers who were fence-sitting to buy an electric vehicle (EV) are now opting for a hybrid model.
“For long time, I was confused between Nexon EV and Grand Vitara SUV as my budget ranged between Rs 18-23 lakh. After much thought, I decided to go for Grand Vitara strong hybrid model. It has more space, strong road presence and eliminates range anxiety -related concerns,” said Aman Sharma, a Bengaluru-based IT sector employee.
Like Sharma, range anxiety and the high upfront cost of e-cars remain a deterrent for many to shift from internal combustion engine (ICE) to battery-powered vehicles. The surge in demand for hybrids after back-to-back launches by Toyota and Maruti Suzuki has given them a choice. In the past six months, passenger vehicles (PVs) with hybrid technology have outsold electric PVs. Hybrid vehicles sales stood at 52,500 units between October 2023 and April 2024 as against EV sales of 48,000 units during the same period.
For FY24, the gap between the two was 10,000 units. EV sales, despite new launches, fell short of 1 lakh mark at about 99,000 units while hybrids sold at about 89,500. The market share of hybrid vehicles in the 4.23 million Indian PV market rose from 0.5% in December 2022 to 2.1% in March 2024. The increased adoption of hybrids is not only limited to India. The US and China are also seeing a growing preference for hybrids, forcing big carmakers to rethink their aggressive EV transition. As per reports, US electric carmaker Tesla missed its delivery estimates for March quarter while hybrid car sales grew in double-digits.
