In terms of safety, the Victoris has scored 5 stars in both GNCAP and BNCAP tests and that's a first for Maruti, observes Somnath Chatterjee.
Auto majors Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra reported robust sales in September as reduced price tags owing to GST rationalisation led to record demand in the Navaratri period. The month also saw Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra settling at number two and three positions, respectively in vehicle wholesales ahead of Hyundai Motor India.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India expects auto sales to bounce back to the glory days of 7 per cent growth by FY 27, helped by the proposed GST rate cut which is expected to bring down car prices by 3.5 to 8.5 per cent.
Cash holdings of equity mutual fund (MF) schemes moderated in September amid a slowdown in fresh inflows. Equity MF schemes held cash worth Rs 1.76 trillion at the end of September 2025 - about Rs 400 crore lower than the previous month, according to a report by Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research.
Among major Sensex gainers Bajaj Finserv rose the most by 1.42 per cent, Axis Bank gained 0.80 per cent, Infosys by 0.72 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra by 0.60 per cent, Tata Motors by 0.55 per cent, Bajaj Finance by 0.53 per cent and Tata Steel by 0.52 per cent. Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki India, Trent Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services were the losers.
Leading carmakers Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai on Thursday reported a dip in wholesales in July as companies reduced vehicle dispatches to dealers amid moderation in demand. Maruti Suzuki India said its total domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 137,463 units in July against 152,126 units in the year-ago month, down 9.64 per cent.
'We are seeing a lot of people with helmets visiting our showrooms.'
Almost 30 per cent of Maruti's auto-component exports are to the US, and about half of that is facing a duty of 25 per cent and the other half 50 per cent.
Between April and August this financial year, passenger car exports rose 8.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), while domestic sales fell by 8.5 per cent.
The GST Council on Wednesday approved two slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent effective from September 22, the first day of Navaratri.
Multiple tailwinds for the automobile sector, including a cut in goods and services tax (GST) rates, are keeping analysts bullish on auto stocks from a long-term perspective, even as they see the rally running its course in the near term.
Passenger vehicle sales in India kicked off on a flat note in new fiscal 2024-25 with 3.38 lakh units sold in April, impacted by high base effect and muted demand due to the ongoing general elections. Dispatches of passenger vehicles from manufacturers to dealers were at 338,341 units in April 2024 as compared to 332,468 units in the same month last year, a growth of 1.77 per cent with major players Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai and Tata Motors reporting marginal growth in their domestic wholesales.
Leading automakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra, and Tata Motors saw a dip in dispatches to dealers in August amid dip in demand with many prospective buyers postponing their buys anticipating a reduction in vehicle prices on account of the new GST framework. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India reported an 8 per cent year-on-year dip in dispatches of passenger vehicles in the domestic market last month.
Manufacturers of passenger vehicles (PVs) in the first half of the calendar year (2025) reported a modest 0.5 per cent year-on-year increase in wholesale dispatches, while retail sales grew 2.5 per cent for the same period, reflecting a calibrated approach by automakers amid elevated dealership inventories and cautious consumer sentiment. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), dispatches rose marginally to 2.16 million units, up from 2.15 million units a year earlier.
'GST reduction will help larger and high-end cars too.'
The next many decades belong to India as the global economic powerhouse, and it will be essential to continue demonstrating policy stability, as the country aspires to be the world's manufacturing hub, Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said on Friday.
For hatchbacks and sedans, offers range between Rs 40,000 and Rs 80,000 while SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles carry benefits exceeding Rs 1 lakh.
Maruti Suzuki India on Friday said it is recalling 7,213 units of its Baleno RS model due to a suspected defect in vacuum pump, which assists brake function. The recall will impact vehicles manufactured between October 27, 2016 and November 1, 2019, Maruti Suzuki India said in a regulatory filing. "It is suspected that there is a possible defect in vacuum pump, which assists the brake function.
Between January and August 2025, over 65,000 units of the Bolero were sold, making it the third-highest contributor to Mahindra's overall SUV sales. Bolero annually achieves sales of over 1 lakh units.
Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday said it plans to invest over Rs 925 crore to expand its captive solar capacity to 319 MWp by FY2030-31. The car market leader announced the expansion of its solar capacity by 30MWp with two new projects.
Maruti Suzuki India's production in December 2022 was lower by 17.96 per cent at 124,722 units, according to a regulatory filing by the company. The company had a total production of 152,029 units in the same month a year ago. Production in mini cars and compact segment, comprising models such as Alto, S-Presso, Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift and WagonR, was lower at 83,753 units last month as compared to 106,090 units in December 2021.
"My understanding is that the rules are weighted in favour of big cars, even though smaller cars emit fewer emissions per passenger, use less material, and consume less fuel," Bhargava said in an interview with Business Standard.
According to Siam data, Indian auto companies sold 982,456 units of utility vehicles in the first half of FY23, a 50.29 per cent growth over the corresponding period last year.
The move offers flexibility in compliance but also places penalties squarely on the designated manager of such a pool.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), the largest passenger vehicle manufacturer in India, has set a road map to expand its global presence by targeting exports of 800,000 units by the end of this decade -- almost double the approximately 280,000 units sent abroad in 2023-24, Rahul Bharti, executive director, corporate affairs, told Business Standard. The company's upcoming electric vehicle (EV) strategy is expected to play a crucial role in its global ambitions.
India needs to come together to deal with the 50 per cent punitive US tariffs on Indian products and stand up to any kind of bullying, Maruti Suzuki India chairman R C Bhargava said on Thursday. "It is our duty as Indians to do our very best to promote and maintain our dignity and respect and not give in to any kind of bullying in this matter... the nation has to stand united," Bhargava said at the company's 44th Annaul General Meeting in New Delhi.
Stock markets are in for an event-heavy week ahead with a raft of Q1 earnings from blue-chips, the US Fed interest rate decision and foreign investors trading activity driving investors' sentiment, analysts said. Macroeconomic data announcements, monthly auto sales numbers and global market trends would also guide movement in the domestic equities, they said.
Among the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped the most by 5.96 per cent. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Trent, ITC and HDFC Bank were also among the gainers. However, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharat Electronics, HCL Tech, NTPC, Power Grid, Infosys and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.
Among Sensex shares, Sun Pharmaceutical, Tata Steel, Trent, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, Titan, BEL, and Larsen & Toubro were the major laggards. However, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki India, ITC, Tata Consultancy Services and UltraTech Cement were the gainers.
Maruti Suzuki India's net profit surged 80.3 per cent to Rs 3,716.5 crore in the September quarter, driven by better sales, softening commodity prices, cost reduction efforts and higher non-operating income. The company had delivered a net profit of Rs 2,061.5 crore in the year-ago period, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement on Friday. Maruti said it is expecting the affordability of small cars in the domestic market to come back in the next 2-3 years in the face of rising income levels of people and a growing economy, among others.
'Some buyers get carried away by festival offers and purchase higher variants or larger vehicles than they truly need, which impacts running cost and long-term affordability.'
The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India on Friday reported a 47.8 per cent rise in net profit for the March quarter of FY24 to Rs 3,877.8 crore, on account of higher sales volume and favourable commodity prices.
'...the auto industry to get back to 7% to 8% annual growth.' 'High growth in the SUV segment alone will not achieve this, as it is a small market.'
India may see its busiest EV festive season in 2025 with SUVs, luxury cars and scooters set to launch, but rare-earth supply bottlenecks risk delaying rollouts.
Mahindra & Mahindra plans to manage rare earth magnet supplies through alternative sourcing channels for the next nine months and will pursue 'engineering efforts' to address the raw material shortage situation amid growing product portfolio, according to a senior company executive. The imposition of export restrictions by China on key rare earth magnets has resulted in supply chain bottlenecks, impacting the user industries, including the auto and electronics sectors.
Maruti Suzuki India will increase the prices of its vehicles 'substantially' from next month as it looks to offset the impact of rising input costs and make provisions to update the model range to conform to stricter emission norms which kick in from April 2023. In a regulatory filing on Friday, the country's largest carmaker said it continues to witness increased cost pressure driven by overall inflation and recent regulatory requirements. While the automaker makes maximum effort to reduce cost and partially offset the increase, it has become imperative to pass on some of the impact through a price increase, it added.
Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai reported single-digit sales growth in July with the sports utility segment continuing to drive overall demand in the market. Mahindra & Mahindra witnessed a 29 per cent increase in passenger vehicle dispatches while Tata Motors saw a marginal increase in the wholesales last month. Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday said its total domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 152,126 units last month as compared to 142,850 units in the year-ago month, a growth of 6 per cent.
Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday said the locally manufactured Jimny five-door model has made its debut in the Japanese market. The SUV, which is exclusively manufactured at Maruti Suzuki's Gurugram-based plant, was unveiled in Japan on Thursday.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said it will hike prices across models from next month amid rising input costs. In a regulatory filing, the company said, ".... over the past year the cost of company's vehicles continue to be adversely impacted due to increase in various input costs." Hence, it has become imperative to pass on some impact of the additional cost to the customers through a price rise, it added.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Thursday said it has appointed Hisashi Takeuchi as the new managing director and CEO with effect from April 1, 2022. The company's board in its meeting held on Thursday, appointed Takeuchi as the managing director and CEO from April 1, consequent to the completion of the term of Kenichi Ayukawa on March 31, 2022, MSI said in a statement. In order to facilitate a smooth transition, Ayukawa will continue as a whole-time Director designated as Executive Vice Chairman till September 30, 2022, and will continue to provide guidance to the auto major, it added.
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