Copyright © HT Media Limited
All rights reserved.
Indian auto industry has clocked a positive wholesale performance in the passenger vehicle segment in August 2026. The pre-festive upbeat consumer sentiment, sustained effect of GST rate cuts announced during the 2025 festive season, and recovered monsoon, among other factors, have helped the Indian passenger vehicle manufacturers to post a positive performance last month.
Maruti Suzuki, the top car manufacturer in India in terms of sales, registered a 21.3% YoY increase in total sales in August this year to 219,220 units. However, month-on-month (MoM) sales of the automaker dropped 9.2% last month. The carmaker attributed this to fewer working days. Other car manufacturers such as Mahindra, Hyundai, and Tata Motors also posted a YoY sales surge in August 2026. Mahindra posted a 50% YoY sales growth, while Hyundai and Tata Motors clocked 8.8% and 56% increments in sales, respectively.
Mahindra posted 50% YoY wholesale growth in the domestic passenger vehicle market in August. The homegrown auto major that sells some of the most popular SUVs like Scorpio-N, BE 6, XEv 9S, XUV 7XO, etc., has clocked 59,257 units last month, as compared to 39,399 units registered in the same month of FY26. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (TMPV) sold 67,753 units in August, up 56% YoY, from its August 2025 sales. Its domestic sales rose 59%, while EV volumes nearly doubled, growing 94% to 16,549 units.
Among other automakers, Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold 32,842 units in August 2026, down by 4% YoY compared to what it recorded in the same month a year ago. Its January-August CY2026 sales rose 10% to 266,696 units, driven by strong domestic demand.
The passenger vehicle manufacturers in the country have clocked wholesale numbers advancing in August 2026 from a year earlier as demand in the third-largest economy in Asia stayed strong heading into the festive season, revealed the data announced by various auto OEMs. While other reasons played their significant parts, the key factor was obviously the low base propelling the year-over-year (YoY) lift, as buyers had held back purchases in August 2025 right before the GST 2.0 regime was announced. Data released on Monday showed India's economy expanded by a steeper-than-expected 7.8% in the April-June quarter of FY27, as an investment boom and manufacturing strength added to already-solid consumer demand.
Interestingly, this upbeat auto sales were registered despite elevated fuel prices and recent passenger vehicle price hikes. Reuters has attributed the auto industry experts expecting moderate auto sales growth in the second half of FY27. Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer for Marketing and Sales at Maruti Suzuki, said that FY27 will be a year of two halves, much like last year. "H1 and H2 will have different growth rates," he said.
Yash Agrawal, an auto analyst at Nirmal Bang, echoed the same thought. However, he said the moderation in demand would be because of the high base rather than any weakness in overall consumer optimism. Agrawal also added that consumers were advancing vehicle purchases amid concerns that automakers could raise prices further if commodity costs remained elevated.
Check out Upcoming Cars in India 2026, Best SUVs in India.