Indian car companies begin FY27 on a strong note despite geopolitical uncertainties

Car sales in the local market started on a strong note in the new financial year, despite geopolitical uncertainties, boosted by sustained customer demand post the GST cuts by the government.

Industry estimates as many as 445,417 cars, sedans and utility vehicles were sold in domestic market last month, which is an increase of 25% over 356,113 units sold in the same period last year. Automakers in India mostly report wholesale dispatches from factories to dealerships and not retail sales to customers.

Industry sales were supported by market leader which reported its best-ever monthly sales in April. The company sold 187,704 passenger vehicles last month – an increase of 35% over the year-ago period. Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales, Maruti Suzuki, said, “We continue to see tailwinds (from GST cuts, reduction in repo rates and raising of income tax ceiling) and have not seen any impact of the West Asia crisis on domestic demand so far. All segments are doing well, our production teams are working to ensure there is no disruption in operations and that vehicles are delivered to customers.”

Homegrown automakers and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) saw sales grow by 30.5% (to 59,000 units) and by 7.6% (to 56,331 units), respectively. Korean rival Hyundai came in fourth in the pecking order but reported a robust growth of 17% selling 51,902 units in April.

Domestic sales only

Source : Companies

Tarun Garg, MD & CEO – HMIL, said, “We have opened the new financial year on a strong note, carrying forward the momentum built in recent months into April 2026. With monthly domestic sales of 51,902 units, has achieved its highest-ever April domestic sales, registering a robust 17% year-on-year growth.”

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor (TKM) saw sales rise 21% to 30,159 units in the period under review.

Sabari Manohar, Executive Vice President, Sales-Service-Used Car Business, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, “Despite evolving industry conditions, we continue to see good performance due to the consistent efforts to align technological innovations with customer expectations. We remain confident that this momentum, supported by our expanding product portfolio and a robust dealer network will sustain our progress in the months ahead.”

Sood, Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Kia India said, “Our highest-ever April performance builds on the steady growth we have seen over the past several months. Kia posted a growth of 16% to sell 27,286 units last month.

In the two-wheeler segment too demand remained healthy with market leader reporting a growth of 85% to sell 532,433 units in April. Rival Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) grew by 15% to sell 484,000 units in the same period. At Suzuki Motorcycle India sales increased by 3% to 98,004 units in April.

Tsutsumu Otani, President & CEO, HMSI, said, “Demand across the two-wheeler market remains resilient across segments. We will continue to respond with agility to market dynamics while focusing on delivering sustainable and stable growth.”

In the commercial vehicle segment, market leader Tata Motors saw sales grow by 28% to 32,965 units in April. Ditto, farm equipments where Mahindra Tractors projected a growth of 20% to sell 46,404 units in the month under review.

Veejay Nakra, President – Farm Equipment Business, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “This strong performance was delivered despite the absence of Chaitra Navratri in April this year, unlike last year when April included seven Navratri days.”