Record car deliveries marked Dhanteras this year as buyers thronged showrooms across the country late into the night to drive home their dream vehicles. As per early estimates, Maruti Suzuki (MSIL), the country’s largest carmaker, delivered around 30,000 vehicles on Dhanteras (which fell on Friday) while Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (TMPV) retailed 12,000 units. Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) expects to deliver 16,000 vehicles in Dhanteras and Diwali.
“We are expecting to deliver around 30,000 vehicles on Dhanteras this year. What is particularly encouraging is that the strong momentum is not limited to one day. From Ganesh Chaturthi on September 14 to November 6, we have already recorded retail sales of over 4 lakh vehicles, compared to 3.46 lakh units during the same period last year,” said Partho Banerjee, Sr. Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales at MSIL. .
Banerjee added that the Brezza and Baleno models are getting a very good response as within a span of just two months, Baleno sales have crossed the 50,000 mark and Brezza has crossed 70,000 units, with both having huge pending bookings.
Amit Kamat, Chief Commercial Officer at TMPV said that since Ganesh Chaturthi, they have recorded retail growth of over 20% compared with the same period last year, reflecting the strength of underlying demand. “Dhanteras saw an outstanding response, with single-day deliveries expected to cross 12,000 vehicles. Diwali muhurat deliveries will continue till Wednesday, and we expect this momentum to carry into the coming days,” added Kamat.
Tarun Garg, MD & CEO of HMIL said that Dhanteras and Diwali are one of the most auspicious days to bring home a new vehicle and that they are witnessing strong customer demand this year as well. “We expect to deliver around 16,000 units, nearly 14% higher than last year,” added Garg.
The strong dispatches on Dhanteras come on the back of robust demand as PV wholesale and retail volume stood above 5 lakh units in October 2026. Earlier, data shared by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) showed that 1.83 lakh PVs were sold in the Navratri 2026 period, down 22% year-on-year but up 10% compared to Navaratri 2024 sales.
Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director and CEO, Auto and Farm Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra said that based on VAHAN registration data for comparable festive days, starting from Navratri, Mahindra has been the fastest-growing brand over the approximately 25-day period tracked so far.
“This strong momentum is also reflected in our dealership inventory, with physical SUV stocks close to zero across most of our portfolio and less than eight to nine days of stock, excluding vehicles in transit. We are operating at full capacity, with our October volumes exceeding the capacity levels we had indicated earlier. Our electric SUV portfolio has also witnessed strong demand through October. We continue to maintain our outlook of mid-to-high-teen growth for Mahindra SUVs in FY27,” added Jejurikar.
