September car sales jump 24% as automakers stock up dealers for festive season

Passenger vehicle sales rose about 24 percent in September from a year earlier as automakers shipped more cars to dealers ahead of the festive season that starts in October, compared with September last year.Automakers sent about 4,60,000 vehicles to dealers last month, according to industry data, compared with 3,72,458 units in September 2025.The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki led the growth, with domestic sales up 36.5 percent to 1,85,252 units. Total sales, including exports and sales to other manufacturers, rose 24.4 percent to 2,36,013 units.Maruti has struggled to keep up with demand since a cut in the Goods & Services Tax (GST) last September unleashed a wave of buying. A new plant is now ramping up and helping it close the gap. The company manufactured 2,38,091 passenger vehicles in September, about 20 percent more than a year earlier.Also Read: Tata takes aim at India’s best-selling car with a compact sedan“We have pending bookings of more than two lakhs… the sentiment is very bullish,” Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer for marketing and sales at Maruti Suzuki, said at a media call on Thursday.Dealer inventory covers only 17 days of sales, he said, calling it the “one thing that’s a challenge”. Maruti prefers 30 days of inventory during the festive season.Growth rates are, however, set to slow from this month because of an unusually high base. Last year, pent-up demand flooded showrooms after the GST cuts took effect on September 22.Even so, Maruti was confident about festive demand.“I feel it [achieving this volume] is very much sustainable as an industry. Everyone is doing pretty well. All the tailwinds are there,” said Banerjee.The growth rate will come down in H2 but the absolute numbers will keep on increasing, he said.The company expects the industry to grow by 10 percent this year.Maruti gained more market share than any other carmaker in the July-September quarter of both years and H1 of this fiscal, according to Banerjee.Small cars are taxed at 18 percent under the new GST regime and bigger cars at 40 percent. In the 18 percent bracket, industry sales grew at an estimated 29 percent in H1, while Maruti's grew 35 percent, he said. In the 40 percent bracket, the industry grew about 20 percent and Maruti grew 33 percent.Small cars are making a comeback, he said. "In the entry hatch, our growth is 86 percent in H1, mid hatches 40 percent, and coming to overall hatch, it is 41 percent," Banerjee said.Its exports grew around 5 percent amid a challenging geopolitical situation.Japan overtook Saudi Arabia in H1 to become Maruti’s second-largest export market. It had climbed to third place in H2 of the last fiscal. The Jimny, Fronx and e Vitara are the top-selling India-made models in Japan.“Interestingly, Suzuki Motor Corporation in Japan has become the largest importer of cars, thanks to cars exported from Maruti Suzuki,” said Rahul Bharti, senior executive officer for corporate affairs. “They have replaced Mercedes-Benz as the largest importer because of Maruti-made cars.”Bharti said the carmaker is well placed for tighter fuel-efficiency rules--corporate average fuel efficiency (Cafe)--released late on Tuesday.“We have been in excess credits in Cafe 1, Cafe 2, and it will continue in Cafe 3 also,” he said.The third phase of Cafe norms should not hurt the revival of hatchbacks, he said.Also Read: Cafe 3 norms: India shifts gears on EVs, opens road for multiple powertrainsIndustry growthTata Motors Passenger Vehicles, the second-biggest carmaker, sold 68,810 vehicles domestically in September, up 15 percent. Exports rose 13 percent to 1,400 units, while electric vehicle (EV) sales jumped 67 percent to 15,384. Total sales crossed 70,000 units for the first time.Mahindra & Mahindra sold 64,092 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) at home, up 14 percent. Exports fell 7 percent to 4,019, while total sales, including commercial vehicles and exports, rose 15 percent to 1,14,874.Hyundai Motor India posted its highest-ever monthly sales of 77,916 units, up 10.8 percent. Domestic sales rose 10.9 percent to 57,166 and exports gained 10.4 percent to 20,750.Its sister company Kia sold a record 32,017 units, 41 percent more than a year earlier.JSW MG Motor India, a venture between JSW Group and China’s SAIC Motor, reported wholesales of 8,018 units, up 19 percent.Renault Indian shipped 3,399 vehicles to dealers, down 20 percent from last year.Eka Mobility, which makes electric buses and small commercial vehicles, sold 1,786 vehicles in the April-September half, up from 133 a year earlier.Two-WheelersHero MotoCorp shipped 7,66,348 units, up 12 percent. Domestic dispatches also rose 12 percent to 7,10,436, led by a 60 percent jump in scooters. Exports fell 31 percent to 27,330.Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India sold 7,06,266 two-wheelers in September, 24 percent more than a year earlier. Sales at home climbed 26 percent to 6,36,768 units, while overseas shipments increased 11 percent to 69,498.Bajaj Auto’s domestic two-wheeler sales fell 12 percent to 2,39,771 units but a 34 percent surge in exports lifted total two-wheeler sales 5 percent to 451,494.TVS Motor’s total sales rose 24 percent to 6,72,790 units. Domestic two-wheeler sales grew 17 percent to 4,82,073, while electric more than doubled to 65,799, and international business rose 48 percent to 1,80,700.Rural SlowdownTractor sales fell last month on the high base of last year, patchy monsoon and lower crop sowing.Mahindra, the world’s biggest tractor maker by volume, sold 50,208 tractors in India, down 23 percent. Exports rose 62 percent to 1,892 units, taking the total to 52,100, down 21 percent.Escorts Kubota’s domestic tractor sales fell 16 percent to 14,911 units, and exports dropped 35 percent to 303. Festive demand, harvesting and improving rural cash flows should support volumes, it said, but the high base may keep growth in check in the near term.VST Tillers Tractors sold 430 tractors, down 10 percent.