Until August 2024, Tata Motors controlled 65% of the market for electric cars in India. Within months, its market share plunged to 45%. A single car was responsible for much of the damage: the MG Windsor.

Since its launch in last September, MG has sold nearly 50,000 Windsors till date, making it the best-selling electric car in India—surpassing the earlier public favourites, Punch and Nexon EVs from Tata.

At its core is a compelling sales pitch: a C-segmentA mid-sized compact vehicle that offers more space and luxury electric car at the price of a smaller-sized sub-compact one.

“It was the battery-as-a-service (Baas) feature that attracted me the most,” said New Delhi-based Akash Sharma who bought a Windsor last November. “I compared every other EV out there—from Tata’s Curvv EV to the Mahindra XUV400. None of them offered the space and comfort Windsor did.”

With the Baas programme, MG significantly reduced Windsor’s cost by separating the cost of the battery from the overall price. What would have otherwise been a Rs 15 lakh car was now brought to customers at Rs 10 lakh.

The timing helped too. India’s auto industry was already going through a transformation, with new EV models launching almost every month. Tata had just landed a punchThe KenHow Tata landed a Punch on Maruti and also buried Nano’s ghost on Maruti and also capitalised on the edge it had over other EV makers.

But there was a difference. Tata’s EVs were all internal combustion engineVehicles powered by engines that run on petrol or diesel cars first, converted to electric. Windsor, on the other hand, was built as a born electric. That distinction gave MG the room to innovate.

Just six months before its launch, the company’s parent, SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), had finalised a joint venture with the JSW Group.

But Windsor wasn’t without its critics. Unlike Tata or Mahindra, which routinely launch 5-star-rated (the highest level of safety in crash tests) cars, MG is yet to secure a safety rating for the Windsor.