For the first time since electric vehicle (EV) sales took off in India in 2020, a non-Tata car will lead a calendar year’s sales. January-November 2025 sales data sourced from industry shows that it’s not Tata Motors’ Nexon EV or Punch EV, but the MG Windsor that is leading the sales charts.
Till now, JSW MG Motor India has sold 43,139 units of the Windsor, which is more than double of the Nexon EV (22,878 units) and Punch EV (14,634 units) combined.
First launched in September 2024 with a 38-kWh battery and 332-km ARAI-certified range, sales of the Windsor took off when the bigger battery variant was introduced in May (52.9-kWh battery and 449-km range). From an average of less than 3,000 units per month prior to May, sales have remained more than 4,000 units since then, and touched a high of 4,741 units in September this year.
BaaS Breakthrough
According to analysts, the carmaker’s Battery as a Service (BaaS) scheme has worked in favour of the Windsor. For example, the 52.9-kWh variant launched in May was priced upfront at Rs 17.49 lakh, but was also available under BaaS for Rs 12.49 lakh, plus Rs 4.5 per km of driving. “This Rs 12.49 lakh attracted a lot of customers to the showroom, even though most people ended by buying the car upfront,” a Gurgaon-based dealer told FE.
“This was at a time when the Hyundai Creta Electric was priced Rs 17.99-20.88 lakh for the 42-kWh variant, and Rs 21.49-24.38 lakh for the 51.4-kWh variant, and the Tata Curvv EV at Rs 17.49-21.99 lakh for 45- and 55-kWh options. This BaaS price was even lower than smaller EVs like the Nexon EV.”
Another thing that worked for the Windsor was that models like the Creta Electric haven’t found favour with EV buyers, and till now Hyundai India has been able to sell just 7,663 units of this highly-anticipated car. And although Mahindra has emerged as a major player in EVs this year—with its XEV 9e and BE 6 totalling 38,841 units—these cars are bigger and more expensive than the Windsor, and therefore have comparatively lower demand.
New Market Leader, But Tata Still Dominates
Prior to 2025, it was always a Tata car that topped EV sales charts.
EVs started becoming popular in India when Tata Motors launched the Nexon EV in January 2020. Of the 4,000-odd EVs sold that year, the Nexon EV had a lion’s share of about 2,600 units.
The car further strengthened its position in 2021, when it sold a little over 9,000 units in a total market of about 14,000 units.
In 2022, sales of the Nexon EV touched almost 30,000 units, followed by the Tigor EV.
Tata Motors started deliveries of the Tiago EV in January 2023, and this entry-level car beat the Nexon EV by selling almost 35,000 units. It was also a year when a slew of EVs were launched, including the MG Comet, Citroen eC3, Mahindra XUV400, and BYD Atto 3.
In 2024, EV sales crossed the 100,000-unit mark for the first time (at 106,966 units), and the largest-selling model was the Punch EV, at 22,724 units.
But 2025 is the first year when a non-Tata model will be topping the sales charts, in the form of the Windsor.
However, as far as overall EV sales are concerned, Tata Motors will remain at the top just because of the sheer number of models it has—its EV models of Punch, Nexon, Tiago, Tigor, Curvv, and Harrier have collectively sold 71,754 units till now this year.