After a record-breaking year, India's automobile industry is entering 2026 on a relatively strong footing, with sales growth expected in the 6-8 per cent range. The outlook is underpinned by policy support, including GST rationalisation, easing monetary conditions, and income tax relief, which together are likely to improve affordability and sustain consumer demand across vehicle segments.
Automobile retail sales grew 9 per cent year on year in 2024 riding on the back of robust demand for two-wheelers and passenger vehicles amid challenging business environment, dealers' body FADA said on Tuesday. Overall vehicle registrations stood at 2,61,07,679 units last year as compared to 2,39,28,293 units in the 2023 calendar year, recording a growth of 9 per cent.
'This is not just a cosmetic refresh,' said Suhas Rajkumar, founder and chief executive officer of Simple Energy. 'We have re-engineered the battery integration, made the scooter lighter, improved performance and expanded the portfolio so customers can choose based on real usage needs.'
After a slew of programmes to facilitate electric-vehicle (EV) adoption in India, the NITI Aayog has said the government has done enough on incentives and now it's time to take the programme a step further with "strong signals" through regulations and mandates.
Auto majors Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai reported muted sales performance in October as the companies curtailed dispatches to dealers in order to cut inventory build up.
Passenger vehicle wholesales crossed the 10-lakh mark for the first time ever in the June quarter riding on the back of robust demand for utility vehicles, industry body SIAM said on Friday. Total dispatches of passenger vehicles in the first quarter stood at 10,26,006 units, up 3 per cent as compared with 996,565 units in April-June FY24. Utility vehicle sales rose 18 per cent to 645,794 units in the first quarter as against 547,194 units in the year-ago period.
'Growth will definitely continue to come most from the sub-four-metre SUV segment, primarily because that is where the heart of economy and affordability is. Naturally, that will keep pushing the share of that segment (in overall PV sales) higher.'
General Motors India is aiming to increase sales three-fold over the next three years, with the five new models it is planning to launch in collaboration with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.
The partnership strengthens HMC's presence in global cricket, marking its return to the sport after its earlier association with the ICC between 2011 and 2015.
The operating performance of the country's largest passenger carmakers, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) and Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), in the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2025-26 (FY26) outpaced brokerage expectations.
The government on Wednesday approved a Rs 7,280 crore scheme to promote manufacturing of rare earth permanent magnets, a move which would help reduce India's dependence on China.
In September, Tesla and VinFast accounted for less than 0.5 per cent of all EV registrations.
Mexico on Thursday imposed a tariff of up to 50 per cent on imports from its non-preferential trade partners, including India, a move that might hit New Delhi's annual $5.75 billion shipments to its third-largest car export market.
The police suspect the recces were part of a larger conspiracy to target the historic monument on January 26, which might have failed due to intense patrolling in the area at the time.
The key question is how much of the latest growth record represents recovery from the 2020-2021 downturn, and what is the sustainable growth rate now, asks T N Ninan.
A 25-year-old man was arrested from Bihar after he stole an SUV from Delhi's South Patel Nagar, police said on Monday.
Pune-based two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto posted its highest ever quarterly revenue and profit after tax (PAT) in Q2FY26. Even as consolidated revenues were up 18.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 15,734.7 crore, PAT zoomed 53.2 per cent to Rs 2,122 crore.
The country's largest listed auto parts company by market capitalisation, Samvardhana Motherson International, reported a better than expected operating performance in the second quarter (July-September) of 2025-26 (Q2FY26). Though the global passenger vehicle (PV) market is facing multiple headwinds, the company is outperforming on the back of higher content per vehicle and market share gains.
Ola Electric on Tuesday clarified that its February sales figures reflect genuine customer orders after full payments, and not just preliminary bookings with a token amount, stating that "nearly 90 per cent" of these orders were paid in full at the time of placement. "To be clear, the sales figures for February 2025 represent genuine customer demand backed by financial commitment, not token-amount bookings.
Grant Thornton Bharat's latest survey indicates that hybrids are set to consolidate market share this festive season, bridging the gap between conventional petrol engines and the emerging electric vehicle segment.
Major Indian carmakers are preparing for sluggish domestic PV sales growth of just 1-2 per cent in FY26.
With social distancing in customer's mind coupled with the government's push to further normalise business conditions and banks becoming more considerate to finance vehicles, entry level passenger vehicles saw good demand.
Delhi blast: Heightened security in Kolkata ahead of India-South Africa Test
Two-wheeler (2W) giant Bajaj Auto registered record sales across the country over the weekend on the back of Gudi Padwa, hawking 26,938 vehicles that included motorcycles and its electric scooter Chetak.
Amazon's latest Prime Day sale event broke records with over 18,000 orders per minute - a 50 per cent jump from 2024. Nearly 70 per cent of new memberships came from Tier-III cities.
The only silver lining in March's performance -- which otherwise dragged down the financial year's momentum -- was a 6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth compared to March of the previous year. This is largely due to incentives, festival-driven gains, and new launches.
'In the January-August period, the share of hatchback in the overall PV industry sales was about 22.4 per cent. In the September-October period, the share of hatchbacks has come down to 20.4 per cent. In just October, their share was just 20 per cent. This is simple wholesale data from industry body SIAM.'
The stock of automotive (auto) components major Bharat Forge has risen 14.6 per cent over the past month. Despite ongoing demand challenges, strong operating performance in the July-September quarter (Q3) of 2025-26 (FY26), a diversified revenue base, and expectations of a gradual recovery have lifted sentiment.
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.
India's used car market, which has been growing steadily at 10-12 per cent over the last 2-3 years, is expected to reach $40 billion in FY26.
Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors reported a decline in wholesales in September as the companies curtailed dispatches to dealers to reduce inventory build-up amid a decline in demand. Maruti Suzuki India reported a 4 per cent dip in total domestic passenger vehicle wholesales last month to 144,962 units compared to 150,812 units in the year-ago month. The auto major said sales of mini segment cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, grew marginally to 10,363 units against 10,351 units in September 2023.
Japanese auto major Honda considers India a key market for its future growth alongside the US and Japan, according to Honda Cars India President and CEO Takashi Nakajima. The Tokyo-headquartered automaker, which operates in India through a wholly owned subsidiary, plans to drive in more SUVs in the country, as the segment continues to see robust sales across varied price points.
Passenger vehicle dispatches from companies to dealerships witnessed an increase of 1.6 pc year-on-year in January at 399,386 units driven by robust demand for utility vehicles, industry body SIAM said on Thursday. It was the highest-ever passenger vehicle dispatch for the month of January.
Automobile dealers' body FADA on Monday said passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in October witnessed a year-on-year decline of 8.8 per cent to 2,49,860 units, as registrations slowed down owing to supply issues. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which collected vehicle registration data from 1,257 out of the 1,464 regional transport offices (RTOs), PV sales stood at 2,73,980 units in October 2019. Two-wheeler sales declined 26.82 per cent to 10,41,682 units last month, as compared to 14,23,394 units in October 2019.
Hyundai Motor India and Honda Cars India on Wednesday joined the list of automakers planning to hike prices of vehicles from April, second time this year, to partially offset the impact of rising input costs and higher operational expenses. In a statement Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) said it will hike prices of its vehicles by up to 3 per cent effective in April 2025.
Automobile retail sales in India declined 9 per cent year-on-year in September amid a massive buildup of passenger vehicle inventory due to sluggish demand, dealer's body FADA said on Monday, urging original equipment manufacturers to take corrective steps. The overall registrations declined to 17,23,330 units last month from 18,99,192 units in September 2023, as most of the categories including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers witnessed a year-on-year (Y-O-Y) drop.
Overall automobile retail sales in India grew a modest 2.95 per cent in April this year to 22,87,952 units with completion of purchases by customers around Chaitra Navratri, Akshay Tritiya, Bengali New Year, Baisakhi and Vishu helping April end on a positive note, Federation of Automotive Dealers Associations said on Monday.
Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India on Monday reported a dip in passenger vehicle dispatches to dealers in the domestic market last month as the companies tried to adjust vehicle inventory amid slowing demand. Maruti Suzuki India said it "calibrated supplies" to the dealers, aligning with the industry's retail sales projections amid India-Pakistan conflict and a dip in sales of entry-level cars.
A Chinese firm this week began trial production of flying cars stated to be the next-generation in the world of transportation, ahead of US firm Tesla and others plans to launch the same shortly.
Hero MotoCorp is expecting its electric vehicle (EV) business to break even once it reaches monthly sales volumes of 25,000 to 30,000 units, which is a couple of years away, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Vivek Anand said on Tuesday. "This year, in 2024-25 (FY25), if I really look at my EV performance, our volumes have grown by 200 per cent," Anand told analysts during the company's post-results conference call.
