Passenger vehicle (PV) wholesales rose 16% year-on-year to about 450,000 units in March 2026, shrugging off widespread fears of fuel and CNG shortages amid the West Asia conflict. Despite repeated government assurances of adequate supplies, panic-buying persists at petrol pumps and CNG stations across India.
For the full financial year 2026, PV sales scaled a new high of 47 lakh, up 8.3% year-on-year, with leading brands such as Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra reporting their best-ever annual sales. Much of the growth for the industry came in the second half of FY26 after the GST rate cut in late September 2025 prompted buyers to make the big-ticket purchase.
Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer - marketing & sales, MSIL, said that sales are driven by three strong tailwinds - income tax benefits, reduction in repo rate by Reserve Bank of India and GST 2.0. MSIL reported wholesales of 166,219 units in March 2026, up 10.3% Y-o-Y. For the full fiscal year, the leading carmaker's sales grew by 3.54% to 18,23,129 units.
Going forward, Banerjee expects the PV industry to grow by around 5% in FY27 with a possible 1 percentage point variation. He, however, cautioned that the company may consider a price hike in the near future as commodity prices have been rising since December 2025.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (TMPV) reported a 28% Y-o-Y growth in March sales to 66,192. For the full FY26 sales, the Nexon and Punch maker reported a 14.05% increase in sales to 631,387 units.
"The PV industry sales are expected to reach record volumes of around 47,00,000 units for the year, reflecting 8% y-o-y growth. The industry witnessed a strong rebound in the second half, posting double-digit growth, supported by GST 2.0 implementation and a robust festive season," said Shailesh Chandra, MD and CEO, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles.
SUV major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) maintained its upward trajectory with March sales growing 25.4% Y-o-Y to 60,272 units. For the full fiscal, M&M sales grew by about 20% to 6,60,276 units, driven by strong demand for models such as XUV 3XO, Scorpio-N, Thar Roxx and XUV 7XO. Hyundai Motor India's PV sales grew by 6.3% to 55,064 units in March 2026, but for the recently concluded fiscal year, they declined 2.30% Y-o-Y to 584,906 units.