BMW is now clearly ahead in India’s luxury EV space in FY26. The numbers show a big gap forming between brands, and it is not close like before.
Total luxury EV sales touched 5,404 units this year, which is much higher than the previous year. BMW alone took most of it. BMW’s share stood at 65.45 percent, while Mercedes-Benz held 19.35 percent, showing how wide the gap has become compared to FY25 when the gap was much smaller.
BMW sold 3,537 electric cars in FY26. Most of these came from one model, the iX1 LWB. Around 3,200 units of that single SUV were sold. This model is locally made in Chennai, and that helped keep the price lower and demand higher. In FY25, BMW had 47 percent share, but now it has moved much ahead due to stronger product focus.
Mercedes-Benz was far behind with 1,047 units. Last year it was slightly better, but this time sales dropped. A lot of its EVs are expensive imports like EQS SUV, EQB and EQE. Only a small part of its sales came from the EQS SUV which is priced above Rs 1 crore. That made it harder to reach more buyers. Mercedes also does not have a locally assembled EV in this space, which reduced its reach in the entry luxury segment.
Volvo stayed steady with 382 units. The EX30 helped it stay in the game because it sits at a lower price point compared to others in this space. Still, numbers dipped a bit compared to last year. It continues to hold a small but stable presence in the premium EV segment.
Tesla also entered the market and sold 342 units in its first year. It only has Model Y on offer, with all units brought in as imports. Even then, the brand name helped it get a decent start. This placed it ahead of brands like Porsche and Audi in its first year itself, showing strong early demand even without local production.
Audi had the worst year. It sold only 17 cars in FY26 compared to 131 last year. The main reason is simple, there were no EVs available to order for most of the year. That stopped sales completely in many places. Audi’s EV pipeline gap meant it effectively lost its position in the segment during FY26.
Other brands like Porsche, Rolls-Royce and Jaguar Land Rover stayed at very low numbers, mostly because of very high pricing and niche demand. Porsche held 59 units, Rolls-Royce 15 units and Jaguar Land Rover just 5 units, showing how limited ultra luxury EV demand still is.
Overall, the market is clearly shifting. Cars that are locally made or priced closer to entry luxury levels are selling more. BMW understood this better and pushed the iX1 hard. Mercedes stayed on expensive models. Audi lost ground due to supply issues. Tesla came in fresh and still managed to find buyers.