(Reuters) -Three of India’s top carmakers together reported lower domestic sales for June, data from the companies showed on Tuesday, as buyers in urban India kept away from new vehicle purchases.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hyundai India registered decline in sales of 13%, 15% and 12%, respectively.
The three automakers corner over 60% of India’s car market, the third-largest in the world, where sales growth has lately stuttered after hitting record-highs for three successive years.
Maruti’s sales for June dropped to their lowest since December 2023.
The ‘Swift’ hatchback manufacturer took a hit in small cars – its largest segment – that have become costlier due to stricter safety and emission rules.
“The once mass small-car segment is not participating in the growth at all,” said Rahul Bharti, Maruti’s senior executive officer of corporate affairs.
Sales of the company’s utility vehicles, mostly sport utility vehicles (SUVs), dropped 8.5% in June, to their lowest level since December 2023.
Meanwhile, Tata Motors’ dispatches slid 15% to their lowest level since December 2021, while Hyundai logged a 12% decline in domestic sales.
Hyundai’s Chief Operating Officer Tarun Garg said in a release that the company is “cautiously optimistic about a gradual recovery of demand.”
Tata, too, said it is counting on its newly launched vehicles to support the carmaker in a year where “overall industry growth is expected to remain subdued.”
Indeed, industry insiders have said they expect overall car sales to grow about 1%-2% in the year to March 2026, compared to last year’s 2% growth.
Mahindra, an exception to the trend, said its SUV sales grew 18% in June to end the quarter with record-high dispatches to dealers.
The blistering growth has powered Mahindra to the no. 2 spot in India’s car market, a position held by Hyundai for the large part of two decades.
BY THE NUMBERS
Manufactur Change (%)
er Domestic
Sales
Maruti 118,906 -13.3%
Suzuki
Mahindra & 47,306 +18.2%
Mahindra
Hyundai 44,024 -12.1%
Motor
India
Tata 37,237 -14.8%
Motors
Toyota 26,453 +2.7%
Kirloskar
Motor
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
