EV supply struggles to keep pace with surging demand during festive season

Electric vehicle sales rose 26% during Navratri as higher petrol prices boosted demand, but supply shortages, component constraints and rising bookings left dealers struggling to meet festive demand.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are selling at a faster rate than the industry can build, stock and deliver them, and the gap is showing up at dealerships just as the festival season peaks, according to industry sources.

 

The data on retail sales of passenger vehicles (PVs), given by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada) on Wednesday, showed that sales of EVs during the Navratri period this year were up by 26 per cent to 12,305 units as against 9,768 units during the same time in 2025. This is compared to a 22 per cent dip in PV sales during the 10-day period this year.

 

However, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including market leader Maruti Suzuki India, said that the industry was facing a supply shortage due to higher demand across segments — the internal combustion engine (ICE), compressed natural gas (CNG), and electric.

 

Maruti Suzuki started October with pending bookings of 200,000 units, and this increased to 270,000 units (all segments), said Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales).

 

According to dealers, supply has not kept pace with rising demand for EVs following a surge in prices of conventional fuels. With petrol above ₹111 a litre in Mumbai and ₹116 in some parts of South India, buyers who once saw EVs as a niche or green choice now see them as a way to cut running costs.

 

Sai Giridhar, president, Fada, said EV demand was surpassing expectations and dealers “can’t keep up”. He cited a shortage of specialised chips used in batteries and electronics and said some buyers faced waiting periods of up to eight months.

 

Hyundai Motor India said EVs’ share in PV sales, stuck near 2.5 per cent for a long time, had climbed to about 8 per cent in the past three months.

 

At Hyundai, demand for the Creta EV has roughly doubled, from 400-500 units a month to about 1,000 in recent months. A fire at a supplier earlier this year cut deliveries, and Hyundai said the waiting period is four-six weeks, stretching to eight on some variants. The company is hoping to clear the backlog before the festival peak. Its dealer inventory, at four to five weeks across its range, is what it considers healthy for the season.

 “During Shardh and Navratri, we witnessed registrations growing 30 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to nearly 41,000 units. Considering the pace of bookings, we expect momentum to continue through Dhanteras and Diwali. Demand remains healthy across both urban and rural markets,” said Tarun Garg, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), HMIL. The Hyundai Bayon is set to be launched early next week.

 

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles said improved customer sentiment was driving higher showroom walk-ins, enquiries, bookings and deliveries across categories. It delivered over 50,000 vehicles during this festival period, including more than 10,000 on Dussehra alone.

 

“We have stepped up production and sharpened logistics to ensure high-demand models and variants are available. With a healthy booking pipeline, we look forward to carrying this strong momentum through the festival season,” said Amit Kamat, chief commercial officer.

 

According to the Fada data, sales of EV two-wheelers during Navratri moved up by 33 per cent, three-wheelers 11 per cent, and commercial vehicles (CVs) 96 per cent.

 

This is compared to a 7 per cent dip in sales across fuel categories in overall automobile retail sales during the 10-day period. Two-wheelers were down 3 per cent, three-wheelers 8 per cent, and construction equipment 2 per cent, while CV sales were up by 1 per cent.

 

Fleet operators and two-wheeler makers paint a more cautious picture.

 

Akash Gupta, co-founder and CEO, Zypp Electric, said the supply was “broadly in place for now”, but sounded a note of caution that global disruption could hit “batteries, semiconductors and magnets at short notice”.

 “Rising fuel prices, driven by global crude-oil shocks and regional conflicts, are making running cost a concern. This is especially true for people who use their vehicles to earn a living, like delivery riders and commercial operators. For them, the saving per kilometre on an EV over petrol makes a direct difference to monthly income. We are seeing more enquiries, and more of them convert, as fuel prices stay high,” said Gupta.

 

The divergence points to an uneven market. Companies that planned inventories early, or which sell mainly to fleets, are better insulated while dealers selling to individual buyers feel the squeeze first. Executives also warn that Y-o-Y comparisons flatter this year’s numbers because last year’s sales were depressed ahead of the cuts in goods and services tax rates on September 22 and then bunched into October.

 Emobi says it stocked up ahead of the season to avoid disruption. The recent data shows that electric two-wheeler sales have gone up by 89 per cent from a year ago. Monthly sales have passed 207,000 units. The market is now more than 11.6 per cent electric.

 

“These numbers show that more people are seeing scooters as a smart and affordable choice for daily travel. For families trying to manage their costs, the lower operating costs of electric scooters are a strong reason to make the switch. We maintain close coordination with our vendors and proactively stock up on inventory ahead of peak demand periods, such as festivals and holidays, to ensure product availability and minimise supply disruptions,” said Bharath Krishna Rao, CEO and cofounder, Emobi.