Electric Vehicle Sales Surge Globally, but India's Adoption Trails Behind

India's electric vehicle (EV) sales jumped to nearly 100,000 units in 2024, representing a 2% share of total car sales, but the country lags behind peer economies despite modest gains, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Global EV Outlook 2025. The report highlights India's growth as limited by pricing gaps, weaker policy incentives for cars, and slower infrastructure buildout. In contrast, countries like Brazil and Vietnam posted sharper growth, with Brazil's EV sales more than doubling to 125,000 units in 2024.

Key Takeaways:

India's EV penetration reached around 2% of total car sales in 2024, with nearly 100,000 electric cars sold.
Brazil's EV sales more than doubled to 125,000 units in 2024, representing a 6.5% share of total car sales.
Vietnam's market share jumped to 17%, supported by domestic manufacturer VinFast, which also began exporting to Southeast Asia and the US.
China led global EV adoption, accounting for nearly two-thirds of global electric car sales in 2024 with over 11 million units sold.
Southeast Asia emerged as a fast-growing cluster, with electric car sales in the region rising nearly 50%, led by Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
India's EV market remains dominated by Tata Motors, although new joint ventures and entrants are beginning to emerge.
Chinese imports play a significant role across emerging markets, accounting for 85% of electric car sales in Brazil and Thailand.
India's growth is limited by pricing gaps, weaker policy incentives for cars, and slower infrastructure buildout.
In the first quarter of 2025, India's EV sales rose 45% year-on-year to nearly 35,000 units, but its market share remains below that of regional peers.
Globally, EVs accounted for more than 20% of new car sales in 2024, with the IEA projecting this could rise to 25% in 2025.
Emerging economies outside China are expected to double their EV sales to 1 million units in 2025.

Statistics:

17 million: global EV sales in 2024
2%: India's EV penetration as a share of total car sales in 2024
100,000: nearly electric cars sold in India in 2024
125,000: Brazil's EV sales in 2024
6.5%: Brazil's EV market share in 2024
11 million: China's electric car sales in 2024
50%: rise in electric car sales in Southeast Asia in 2024
13%: Thailand's EV share in 2024
85%: share of Chinese imports in electric car sales in Brazil and Thailand
20%: global EV market share in 2024
25%: projected global EV market share in 2025
20 million: projected global EV sales in 2025
1 million: emerging economies' EV sales in 2025

Sources:

International Energy Agency's (IEA) Global EV Outlook 2025
Times Content (multiple publications)