Car sales stay in fast lane in December as GST 2.0 continues to support demand

The Maruti Suzuki Baleno was the largest-selling car in India in December 2025.

• Passenger vehicle wholesales rose in December 2025, driven by GST cuts.
• Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra, Tata and Toyota reported strong sales growth.
• SUVs across OEMs drove record sales in December 2025.

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The passenger vehicle (PV) market maintained strong momentum in December 2025 on the back of Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate rationalisation, extending the growth seen in October and November, with domestic wholesales rising by around 25% year-on-year (y-o-y) as the country's top carmakers reported higher volumes during the month.

According to industry estimates, against domestic wholesales of 3,22,000 units in December 2024, the PV volumes stood between 4,00,000 units and 4,05,000 units last month, resulting in an uptick of 24.22% to 25.78%.

In addition, the industry clocked wholesales of nearly 45,50,000 units in calendar year 2025 (CY25), registering a growth of 5.69% y-o-y over 43,05,000 units sold in the previous year.

Domestic PV wholesales - December 2025 vs December 2024

The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, witnessed a record performance, as the PV wholesales grew 37.3% y-o-y to 1,78,646 units in December 2025. While the Maruti Suzuki Baleno was the best-selling car in India during the month at 22,108 units, the Maruti Suzuki Dzire emerged as the top-selling car in the country in CY25 at around 2,14,000 units, beating the likes of the Hyundai Creta and the Tata Nexon.

Replying to a question from Moneycontrol on the impact of GST restructuring during Maruti Suzuki's monthly sales briefing, Senior Executive Officer for Marketing and Sales, Partho Banerjee, said, "Post GST 2.0, there is demand in the market. There is a huge traction, and people want to buy cars."

We have a network stock of just three days, Banerjee said, adding that Maruti Suzuki currently has close to 1,75,000 pending bookings. The CNG penetration in the carmaker's volume has reached 37%, while the contribution from SUVs is at 31%.

When asked whether the company will hike car prices in January, Banerjee observed, "We are contemplating whether we should serve the customers who have already booked cars with prices that were valid till December 31."

Homegrown SUV major, Mahindra & Mahindra, saw its PV volumes rise 22.99% y-o-y to 50,946 units in December 2025. The major push during the month (around 15,900 units) as well as in CY25 (nearly 1,77,000 units) came from the Mahindra Scorpio.

"Looking ahead to 2026, we are committed to continue achieving operational excellence and setting new benchmarks in design and product innovation," the company's Automotive Division CEO Nalinikanth Gollagunta told Moneycontrol.

"On the electric front, our focus is twofold: ramping up operational capacity to 8,000 electric SUVs per month and strengthening the public‑charging ecosystem. We are proud to be India's first original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to introduce 180kW ultra‑fast highway charging network, with 1,000 points planned by 2027. At the same time, with the XUV 7XO launching in January 2026, we look to further strengthen Mahindra's leadership in the internal combustion engine (ICE) SUV segment," Gollagunta added.

The PV volumes of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles jumped 13.15% y-o-y to 50,046 units during the month under consideration, with the Nexon and the Punch being volume drivers at 19,400 units and 16,000 units, respectively. In CY25, the Nexon sold around 2,01,000 units, while the Punch clocked almost 1,73,000 units.

"CY25 saw steady progress for the PV industry, powered by a growing preference for SUVs and accelerating adoption of cleaner, emission-friendly powertrains. For Tata Motors, it was the fifth consecutive year of record-breaking annual sales, with 587,218 units sold, including the highest-ever EV volumes of 81,125 units in a calendar year," said Shailesh Chandra, MD and CEO, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, adding that the momentum sparked by the rollout of GST 2.0 in late Q2 FY26 gained further traction in Q3, resulting in several new records for us.

Looking ahead, we remain confident about the PV industry's growth. With deliveries of recently introduced products (Sierra) commencing in Q4 and an exciting pipeline of launches and innovations on the anvil, Tata Motors is well poised to accelerate its growth trajectory in FY26," Chandra noted.

Hyundai Motor India continued to trail Mahindra and Tata as the December 2025 volumes came in almost flat at 42,416 units. The popular Hyundai Creta emerged as the largest-selling SUV in India in CY25 with sales of over 2,01,000 units. Also, the new Hyundai Venue has already received 55,000 bookings in less than two months of launch.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor's PV wholesales climbed 37.25% y-o-y to 34,157 units in December 2025. A strong product mix across SUV, MPV and hatchback segments emerged as a key growth driver for the company with the Innova Hycross, Fortuner, Urban Cruiser Hyryder, Hilux, Urban Cruiser Taisor and Glanza delivering strong performance.