December is usually a slow month for two-wheeler sales in India. This one was compounded by the fact that October and November had been exceptionally strong.
The Indian government reduced taxes (GST) on two-wheelers from 22nd September 2025, from 28% to 18%. This had a positive impact on ICE two-wheelers, with a significant price reduction – the best-selling scooter in India became cheaper by nearly INR 8,000 (approximately USD 90). That, on a base of around INR 90,000 (USD 1050), is a significant cut.
Meanwhile, there was no parallel price cut for E2Ws, mostly because they are already taxed at 5% GST, and a further cut is difficult.
As a result, the price delta between ICE2Ws and E2Ws widened from about 20% to more than 25% on comparable models.
The impact was severe on the E2W penetration levels. Even with a healthy growth in sales, the penetration levels collapsed to 4.57%, from more than 8% before the tax cuts. This trend stayed for October-November as ICE2Ws did very well due to pent-up demand. This sales burst was partially at the expense of E2Ws.
December Equalised
The consumption story driven by the GST cut has moderated this month. Now, December is usually a slow month as customers defer purchases to the new year. With both factors in sync, ICE two-wheeler sales dipped badly. This month, ICE2W registration was just above 1.22 million units. Last month, the number was nearly 2.44 million units. In October, the number was more than three million units.
This rapid decline is not an indication of any deeply entrenched problems in the Indian market. It is just a short-term boom-and-bust cycle playing out. Things should moderate again in January as the pendulum swings the other way again. As a note, Indian two-wheeler sales crossed the 20 million mark in 2025, the first time since 2018. In 2024, the number was 18.94 million units.
The correction in December also indicates that the GST cut-driven temporary momentum has now ebbed, and the market will follow a natural course in the coming months.
Penetration Spikes Up
E2W sales also dipped, but not as severely. Registration numbers in December were 97,380 units. As a result, penetration levels spiked up to 7.37% in December 2025.
For the full year 2025, E2W penetration in India was 6.3%. Note, penetration is the ratio of E2W sales to total two-wheeler sales.
With the spike, penetration levels are again above the 5-7% mean band defined by InsightEV a few months back.
Marketshares and Rankings
The rankings have not changed over the last few months as TVS has cemented its place at the top of the table. In December 2925, TVS finished with 25039 units in sales, for a 25.71% share of the market. For the entire year, TVS closed with a 23.35% market share of the Indian E2W market.
Bajaj Auto remains at the second spot with sales of 18,790 units, for a 19.7% share of the market. This was a relatively down month for Bajaj as the manufacturer of the Chetak had a 21.1% share of the market for the whole year.
Ather Energy has had a remarkable year. The Bangalore-based scooter startup has grown in strength since its IPO, a stark contrast to Ola Electric, which has weakened steadily since its IPO. In December 2025, Ather sold 17,052 scooters for a 17.5% share of the market. Overall, Ather closed the year with a 15.7% market share.
Hero Vida is another brand that has improved significantly in the second half of the year. It closed the month with 10,701 units in sales for a 10.99% market share. Overall, thanks to a weak first half, Vida had an 8.5% share of the market.
Ola Electric follows in the fifth spot with sales of 9,020 units. This was a better performance than last month but a sharp fall from the 24,411 units in sales that Ola had in January 2025. For the month, Ola had a market share of 9.27% and closed the year with a 15.6% market share.
The Year Gone By
The Industry closed the year with sales of 1.28 million units, a 11% jump from 2024 sales volume of 1.15 million units. However, penetration levels have improved modestly, from 6.05% in 2024 to 6.3% in 2025.