56% of Nepal’s EV imports came from India

KATHMANDU: Nepal imported 4,050 units of electric vehicle (EV) passenger cars in fiscal year 2022/23.

Data compiled by the Department of Customs shows, India secured more than 50% of Nepal’s EV market share in the passenger car segment during the review year with 2,277 units. Following closely, China ranked second with 1,371 units imported, while South Korea held the third position with 381 units.

Apart from these major players, Nepal also sourced 11 EV units from Indonesia, nine from the US, and one from the United Kingdom.

Tata Motors dominated the EV imports from India. Sipradi Trading, the authorized distributor of Tata Motors in Nepal, has been selling three Tata EV models in the Nepali market – Nexon SUV, Tigor sedan, and T-Express, the taxi version of Tigor. Tata Motors is also preparing to introduce the hatchback Tiago to the Nepali market.

The Citroen eC3 is the only other car imported from India during the review period. But the hatchback had a limited presence in Nepal since the bookings for this model were launched only about a month ago.

Among the Chinese EV brands, BYD, MG, and Neta V have performed well in the Nepali market. While the precise import figures for individual companies are unavailable, MG stands out as a prominent choice from China as its ZS EV is doing really well in Nepal. Although BYD has a lot of offerings in Nepal, its focus is currently on the Atto 3 crossover. The company has begun selling Atto3 with a smaller battery pack to make it more competitive in the market. Further, the company is preparing to bring the Dolphin hatchback to the Nepali market.

Among the Chinese EV brands, BYD, MG, and Neta V have performed well in the Nepali market.

Additionally, smaller Chinese EVs like those from Henrey and TheeGo have also made their way into the Nepali market. But their sale is negligible.

Hyundai and Kia are the leading Korean brands making their mark in Nepal. Hyundai’s Kona and Ioniq 5, as well as Kia’s Soul EV and Niro, have become familiar sights on Nepali roads. The majority of the 381 passenger EVs imported from South Korea were Hyundai cars as Kia is not promoting aggressively in the Nepali market. Nevertheless, Kia is preparing to launch its EV6 crossover in the Nepali market.

Nepal also imported 11 EVs from Indonesia in the fiscal year 2022/23. Wuling Air EVs that have been imported to Nepal came from Chinese automobile major SAIC’s manufacturing facility in Indonesia.

Additionally, nine EVs, Tesla to be precise, were sourced from the US, and one EV was imported from the United Kingdom.

The import value of these EVs was Rs 11.84 billion and the government mobilized a revenue of Rs 3.30 billion from the imports.