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Informist, Friday, May 1, 2026

 

MUMBAI – India's passenger vehicle industry kicked off 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) on a relatively positive note as wholesale sales in April grew 27% on year but remained flat on month. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., India's biggest passenger vehicle maker, flagged ongoing capacity constraints and commodity cost pressures even as demand momentum continued.

 

The passenger vehicle industry sold around 450,000 units in April, the same as in March. In April last year, companies had sold 354,271 cars, up only 5% on year, in what was the beginning of a six-month lull.

 

"Unfortunately, over the last four to five years, based on the market demand, we had modified our lines to meet the requirements of the market. Suddenly, when the demand came (after GST cut), it took us time to again get the production back on track," Partho Banerjee, a senior executive officer of the company's marketing and sales division, said.

 

In April, Maruti Suzuki recorded its highest-ever sales of 239,646 cars, up over 33% on year. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. sold 59,701 cars, up 31% on year while Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.'s car sales grew at the slowest rate in eight months, to 56,331 units, up 8% on year. Hyundai Motor India Ltd. sold 65,610 cars last month, up 8% on year.

 

"We continue to see healthy volume growth for PVs and 2Ws despite continued geopolitical uncertainties, with dealer surveys remaining largely positive," Nomura Equity Research said in a report.

 

Maruti Suzuki's Banerjee said that the supportive factors are in place to ensure that the demand for cars sustains going forward. "I think as long as the tailwinds are there I think there is no rhyme and reason why the auto industry should not grow but yes, if there is an increase in the fuel prices obviously there will be an impact on the sales of the small cars," Banerjee said.

 

 

Analysts expect near-term wholesale sales volume of passenger vehicles to be impacted by supply constraints and inventory normalisation. However, they expect growth to improve as supply conditions ease.

 

Passenger vehicle companies have hiked prices by 0.5-2.5% owing to input cost pressures, YES Securities India Ltd. said in a note earlier this week. However, Maruti Suzuki, which has a market share of little under 40%, has not hiked prices yet. Sales of passenger vehicles in southern India are seeing a low single-digit growth while sales in north and west India are flat-to-negative.

 

While demand for passenger vehicles in India remained healthy, automakers reported a mixed performance in export markets in April. Maruti Suzuki exported 40,054 units in April, up 44% on year. However, Hyundai Motor's exports fell over 16% on year and 1.7% on month to 13,708 units in April. This is the fewest units exported by Hyundai Motor since February 2025, when it had exported 11,000 units.

 

M&M does not export its sports utility vehicles. Even though exports form a very small fraction of Tata Motors PV's overall sales pie, their exports jumped to 701 units in April from 333 units a year ago.    End

 

Reported by Anand JC

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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