UP, Bihar expand share in festive car and motorcycle purchases

Festive season car sales pick up

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are driving India’s festive-season vehicle sales, widening their share even as traditional markets such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Delhi lost ground, a Moneycontrol analysis of Vaahan data shows.

North and East Drive Car Sales

In motor car sales, Uttar Pradesh’s share climbed to 11.4 percent in 2025, up from 10.4 percent in 2022, cementing its position as India’s second-largest auto market after Maharashtra.

Maharashtra remained the top market with a 13.2 percent share, though its lead has narrowed from 13.4 percent in 2022. Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan continued to perform well; Rajasthan’s share rose sharply to 7.1 percent, nearly two percentage points higher over four years.

By contrast, southern states saw a visible slowdown. Andhra Pradesh’s share fell from 2.5 percent to 1.6 percent, while Kerala’s dropped from 5.9 percent to 4.9 percent, signalling weaker urban demand.

Tamil Nadu accounted for 6.9 percent of two-wheeler registrations, down from 8.1 percent in 2022, and its festive-season car share slipped to 6 percent from 6.4 percent.

Motorcycles Tell the Same Story

Motorcycle sales across the country were up 9 percent during the September-October period compared with the previous year, as per Vaahan data on October 26, but the momentum was similar in motorcycle sales, where northern and eastern states led the expansion.

Uttar Pradesh’s share rose to 13.1 percent in 2025 from 11.7 percent a year earlier, while Bihar’s jumped to 5.4 percent, up from 4.6 percent in 2024.

Other states—Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh—also registered small gains, even as western and southern markets weakened. Maharashtra’s motorcycle share slipped to 11.2 percent, the lowest in four years, and Karnataka’s fell to 6.7 percent.

The shift highlights the rising purchasing power of consumers in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns across northern and eastern India.