Bright Start to FY27 for Car Makers with Sales of 4.5 Lakh Units in April
Car sales in the domestic market were 3.54 lakh units in April last year.
Pune: Car market in India kicked off the new fiscal year on a strong note, with an estimated 4.5 lakh units of passenger vehicles sold in April in the country, up 27 per cent, led by Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Kia, among others.
Car sales in the domestic market were 3.54 lakh units in April last year.
According to Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer at Maruti Suzuki the car makers continued to benefit on the back of GST rate rationalization, repo rate cut and income tax benefit.
Maruti Suzuki clocked domestic sales of 1,91,122 units in April compared to 1,42,053 units in the year-ago month. Its previous highest domestic sales were in December 2025 at 1,82,165 units.
“We are starting this year with a big bang. Small cars have contributed significantly to this growth,” Banerjee told reporters.
The company's small cars, comprising Alto, S-Presso, Celerio and WagonR, grew 74.4 per cent, he said, adding it has dispelled the doubts that people had over the future of small cars. He, however, said any hike in petrol prices could have an impact on demand.
Banerjee said the overall passenger vehicle market is estimated around 4.45 lakh to 4.5 lakhs in April this year and last year, the industry volume for the same month was 3.54 lakh.
“The three tailwinds of GST 2.0, the income tax relief and the reduction in the repo rates are still pushing growth,” he noted.
Banerjee said Maruti Suzuki had a book order of 1.65 lakh vehicles to be delivered, with the waiting period for its small cars extending to a month, and the company was ramping up production to meet the rising demand.
Sales at Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles jumped 30 per cent at 59,000 units last month as against 45,199 units in the year-ago period.
Sales at Mahindra & Mahindra stood at 56,331 units compared to 52,330 units in April 2025, up 8 per cent, with its CEO, Automotive Division, Nalinikanth Gollagunta, saying the company has started the new fiscal year 2026-27 “on a positive note in April”.
Similarly, sales at Hyundai Motor rose 17 per cent year-on-year at 51,902 units in April 2026. It was the company's highest ever for the month of April since its inception.
“We have opened the new financial year on a strong note, carrying forward the momentum built in recent months into April 2026,” said Tarun Garg, MD and CEO at Hyundai Motor India.
Kia India also reported a 16 per cent growth in wholesales to 27,286 units in April 2026 compared to 23,623 units sold in the same month last year. It was the highest-ever sales in April.
“Our highest-ever April performance builds on the steady growth we have seen over the past several months,” said Atul Sood, Senior VP, Sales and Marketing at Kia India.
Sales at Toyota Kirloskar Motor also surged 21 per cent at 30,159 units compared to 24,833 units in April 2025.
“Our sales performance in April 2026 reflects steady and sustained progress,” said Sabari Manohar, TKM Executive Vice President, Sales-Service-Used Car Business.
JSW MG Motor India reported a 3 per cent year-on-year growth at 6,018 units, Renault India 5,413 units, Nissan Motor at 3,203 units.
