Maruti Suzuki posts record January domestic car sales; Hyundai behind Tata, Mahindra despite best-ever month

The SUV models continued to drive demand for carmakers in January 2026.

• Passenger vehicle sales in India rose up to 12.62% year-on-year in January 2026.
• Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Hyundai posted record monthly domestic sales.
• SUV models drove strong demand and bookings across major carmakers.

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The carmakers began calendar year (CY) 2026 on a strong footing, recording healthy volumes in January, led by sustained demand for SUV models. Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai Motor India and Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported a growth in their domestic wholesales during the month.

The passenger vehicle (PV) market registered volumes of around 4,50,000-4,55,000 units in January 2026, in comparison to nearly 4,04,000 units in the year-ago month, logging a growth of up to 12.62% year-on-year (y-o-y), according to industry data.

While Maruti Suzuki posted its highest-ever domestic PV wholesales for any January last month, Tata and Hyundai achieved their highest-ever monthly domestic sales in January 2026.

Domestic PV wholesales

The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, witnessed a 0.54% y-o-y growth in PV wholesales to 1,74,529 units in January 2026, from 1,73,599 units in the same month last year.

During Maruti Suzuki's monthly sales briefing, Senior Executive Officer for Marketing and Sales, Partho Banerjee, told Moneycontrol that there are tailwinds in the market and demand is still there.

"We are seeing a very healthy booking growth of 25% y-o-y. We have a production constraint despite the fact that we are working on Sundays and holidays. In fact, in January, our production and supply teams worked on two Sundays and a holiday. We are trying our best, but still not able to meet the demand in the market. We think that the demand may continue but we will have to wait and watch. We have to see the fourth quarter of this fiscal," he added.

During the month, Maruti Suzuki had six models among the 10 best-selling cars -- Dzire sedan (19,629 units), Ertiga MPV (17,892 units), Swift hatchback (17,806 units), Brezza SUV (17,486 units), Baleno hatchback (16,782 units) and Victoris SUV (15,240 units).

The WagonR hatchback-maker currently has close to 1,75,000 pending bookings, with demand spread across models from hatchback body style to sedan, MPV and SUV. The company is operating at 10 days network stock, out of which six to seven days are related to vehicles in transit.

On whether Maruti Suzuki is considering a price hike, Banerjee said: "To serve our customers, we came up with the price protection scheme in January, since we were not able to supply the vehicles. We are seeing that first-time customers who are coming to the four-wheeler segment, we need to give them the opportunity to upgrade. Hence, we have given a price protection scheme that if you book your car, we are going to serve you. There will be no price increase."

The domestic PV wholesales, including electric vehicles (EVs), of Tata jumped 46.1% y-o-y to 70,222 units in January 2026 from 48,076 units in the year-ago month.

The major volume drivers for Tata were the Nexon SUV (23,365 units) and the Punch SUV (19,257 units). Both models also recorded their highest-ever monthly volumes in January 2026. Additionally, the Nexon SUV crossed the cumulative sales milestone of 10,00,000 units, while the Punch SUV drove ahead of 7,00,000 units in merely four years and three months, becoming the fastest model in India to achieve the feat.

While the company noted that it is progressively ramping up production of the Sierra SUV to meet the growing demand, it did not share details regarding the January volumes garnered by the newly-launched model.

India's top SUV manufacturer, Mahindra, recorded wholesales of 63,510 units in January 2026, resulting in a growth of 25.37% y-o-y over 50,659 units sold in January 2025. The major volume churners for the company were the Scorpio SUV (combined 15,542 units for the N and the Classic models) and the Bolero SUV (combined 11,841 units for the standard and the Neo models).

Mahindra's Automotive Division CEO, Nalinikanth Gollagunta, said that the maker of the Thar SUV began the year on a strong note, building on the strong momentum of last year's performance.

"On January 14, we opened bookings for the XUV 7XO and the XEV 9S, clocking 93,689 bookings for a booking value of Rs 20,500 crore, a record-breaking milestone in just four hours," he added.

Hyundai's domestic sales stood at 59,107 units in January 2026, rising 9.5% y-o-y over 54,003 units sold in the same month last year. As usual, the Creta SUV drove the volumes at 17,921 units, with the recently launched Venue SUV achieving its best monthly sales at 12,413 units.

The company's MD and CEO, Tarun Garg, said that January 2026 marked a defining chapter in the company's journey as it achieved its highest-ever monthly domestic sales. "As we look ahead in the year, we will continue to lead with purpose, creating enduring value for our customers, empowering our stakeholders and shaping the future of mobility in India," he noted.

The domestic volumes of Toyota climbed 17% y-o-y to 30,630 units in January 2026 from 26,178 units a year ago. "CY26 started on a positive and encouraging note, with continued momentum of our product portfolio and customers' trust in our commitment to quality, safety and sustainability. A key highlight during January was the launch of the all-electric Urban Cruiser Ebella, further strengthening our focus on delivering future-ready mobility solutions aligned with evolving customer expectations," the carmaker's Executive Vice President for Sales-Service-Used Car Business, Sabari Manohar, said.