India car sales stay flat in September as Kia and Renault show growth

UPDATE - follow-up to September 2026 car sales: 4 out of of top 5 carmakers record MoM decline: India's passenger vehicle wholesale volumes stayed broadly flat at around four lakh units in September 2026. Maruti Suzuki kept the top spot, while Kia and Renault were the only two makers to record month-on-month growth. Tata Motors and Mahindra stood apart by just 227 units, with Tata taking second place.

Top Makers

Maruti Suzuki stayed India's largest carmaker with 1,68,744 units, up over 27 percent from the year before, though sales dropped 4.7 percent from August. Tata Motors sold 56,972 units, falling 4.5 percent year-on-year. Mahindra sold 56,745 units, dipping 4.2 percent from August but rising slightly by 0.91 percent year-on-year.

Other Brands

Hyundai registered 49,998 units, which is down 3 percent from a year ago. Kia sold 32,017 units, rising 10.2 percent from August and 41 percent year-on-year. Toyota clocked 27,652 units, while JSW MG Motor recorded 5,226 units. Renault sold 3,399 units, going up 19.6 percent from the month before, and Nissan recorded 2,960 units.

Context

Monthly wholesale figures help track how many vehicles manufacturers ship to dealers rather than direct retail sales to customers. Automakers often launch new updates and variants during this period to gear up for customer demand ahead of the festive season.