On the back of Goods & Services Tax (GST) reforms, passenger vehicle (PV) sales skyrocketed in the past 8 days, helping automakers to clock one of their best monthly sales in September. As per early estimates, PV dispatches by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) stood at about 375,000-380,000 units last month when compared to 360,000 units dispatched in September 2024.
Retail sales, however, are likely to have surpassed the 400,000 mark in September 2025 as buyers rushed to take deliveries since the new GST rates kicked in which also coincided with the commencement of the Navratri festival. In September 2024, retail sales stood at 320,000 units.
India’s largest carmaker – Maruti Suzuki ( MSIL) - led the retail market with its sales growing 27.5% year-on-year in September 2025 to 173,500 units. The company’s bookings during September 2025 hit a milestone of 350,000 units. The carmaker had earlier announced price cuts of up to Rs 1.29 lakh across its portfolio.
In the first 8 days of Navratri, MSIL’s retail sales surged to 165,000 units. The carmaker expects to clock 2 lakh retail sales in the Navratri period.
MSIL domestic PV dispatches to dealers, however, fell 8% y-o-y to 132,820 units in September 2025. The domestic wholesale figure for the month should be seen in the context of logistical constraints towards the last part of the month, the company said. Exports for MSIL hit an all-time high of 42,204 units (up 52%) last month.
“The challenge before us is logistics to transport such large volumes, but we are making every effort to serve our customers at the earliest,” said Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales at MSIL.
Hyundai Motor India reported a 10% year-on-year increase in total sales to 70,347 units in September. Domestic dispatch of vehicles to dealers saw a marginal increase to 51,547 units last month from 51,101 units in the year-ago period.
Tata Motors’ PV dispatches surged in September to 60,907 units (domestic wholesales of 59,667 units), the company's highest ever monthly sales and up 47% year-on-year. Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles said, “The passenger vehicles industry marked a sharp upswing in demand during September 2025 following the rollout of GST 2.0, further buoyed by festive tailwinds. This surge in demand sets a promising tone for sustained growth in the months ahead.
Mahindra & Mahindra sold 56,233 PV in the domestic market in September 2025, a growth of 10%. The Billing numbers of SUVs for September were subdued due to the availability of trailers in the last 10 days of the month. According to Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO, Automotive Division, M&M, “Thanks to the impetus from GST 2.0 and the preceding weeks’ pent-up demand, we have seen robust growth in dealer reported customer retails during the first nine days of Navratri, with over 60% growth in the SUV segment and over 70% growth in the CV segment compared to the first nine days of Navratri last year.”
The GST Council in early September reduced levies on small cars and mass-market motorcycles (engine size below 350cc) from 28% to 18%. Premium cars, including sports utility vehicles (SUVs), will now attract a 40% GST as against the previous levies (GST plus cess) of up to 48%. Following this, all the automakers announced passing the benefits to consumers in an effort to make them affordable.