Festive tailwinds drive car sales to record highs in October
NEW DELHI: Carmakers rode festive demand to new sales records in Oct. Growth extended beyond SUVs, with Maruti Suzuki reporting stronger car sales and supply constraints in CNG vehicles, although the durability of demand after the festive season will be the next test.Maruti and Hyundai recorded their highest-ever monthly domestic sales, while Tata Motors narrowly edged past Mahindra in passenger vehicle volumes.Market leader Maruti’s domestic passenger vehicle sales rose 20.5% to 2,12,384 units. Its passenger car portfolio grew 18.4%, alongside a faster 26.1% increase in utility vehicles, suggesting that Oct’s gains were spread across vehicle categories.Small cars contributed about 40,000 units, said Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer, marketing & sales, Maruti Suzuki India. CNG sales stood at around 87,000 units, or about 40% of domestic volumes, with supplies still constrained. The scale of CNG demand underlines the importance of running costs in buyers’ choices, even as manufacturers expand their electric portfolios.
SUVs and small cars both fuel October’s passenger vehicle sales surge
Banerjee said Maruti was expected to gain market share over the next few months. For its e Vitara, domestic volumes were expected to remain around 2,000 a month through Dec as “commitments to other markets are there”, he said.Exports provided another growth engine for Maruti and Hyundai, rising 59.3% and 21.1%, respectively. Hyundai’s domestic sales increased 16.7% to a record 62,799 units.“Strong festive demand, coupled with healthy momentum in both domestic and export markets, helped us set this new sales record,” Hyundai Motor India MD and CEO Tarun Garg said.Competition below the market leader remained close. Tata’s domestic passenger vehicle sales grew 21% to 73,894 units, just 556 ahead of Mahindra’s record SUV sales of 73,338 units. Mahindra’s growth was a more modest 2%, showing that record volumes did not translate into equally strong expansion across manufacturers.Tata’s electric vehicle sales, including exports, rose 75% to 16,244 units, increasing their contribution to its overall passenger vehicle business to more than a fifth.Meanwhile, Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported domestic sales of 29,521 units in Oct and exports of 839 units, taking total volumes to 30,360 units. JSW MG Motor India’s wholesale sales grew 19% to 8,013 units. Renault, on the other hand, surpassed its entire 2025 sales in 10 months, with Jan-Oct volumes rising 31% to 39,955 units. The next few months will show whether festive buying translates into sustained demand.
