Mahindra surpasses Tata to become India’s 3rd biggest carmaker

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M) has overtaken Tata Motors to become India’s third-largest carmaker by volume. M&M’s sport-utility vehicles (SUV) sales grew 24% year-on-year to 51,062 units in September while Tata Motors’ domestic passenger vehicle wholesales fell 8% year-on-year to 41,063 units last month. This is the first time when Mahindra’s wholesales—depatches from the factory to dealerships—crossed the 50,000 monthly sales mark.

M&M sold just 39 fewer cars than the country's second-largest carmaker Hyundai Motor India in September.

Mahindra & Mahindra bucked the industry-wide trend of de-growth in car sales during the second quarter, partly aided by the launch of compact SUV XUV 3XO earlier this year. M&M’s passenger vehicle wholesales grew 21% year-on-year to 2,60,210 units in the first half of 2024-25. The automaker is eyeing mid-to-high-teens growth this fiscal. Meanwhile, Tata Motors' domestic car wholesales dipped 3.6% to 268,034 units in the first half of the ongoing fiscal compared with 278,070 units in the first six months of FY24.

India's car industry saw more than 5% decline in retail sales (Vahan registrations) in the second quarter of FY25 compared to Q2 FY24, dragged down by slow consumer demand and seasonal factors.

Tata Motors’ wholesales were dented by a weak for demand electric vehicles due to the lapse of registration and road tax waivers in key states and phasing out of subsidy for fleet operators. "Fleet EV sales continued to remain impacted due to lapse of FAME II and non-inclusion of the fleet segment in PM-eDRIVE scheme," says Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.

Tata Motors posted wholesales of 130,753 units in Q2 FY25, a decline of 6% compared to Q2 FY24, as it readjusted wholesales to lower-than-expected retails, to keep channel inventory under control. Chandra, however, says that registrations picked up pace towards end of the month which augurs well for the festive period ahead.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd, which is on its way to launch the country's biggest initial public offering (IPO), registered sales of 51,101 units in the domestic market.

India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd witnessed a 4% decline in September sales at 144,962 units compared with 150,812 units in the corresponding month last year.