Leading carmakers in India reported sales numbers for July on Friday, with most carmakers reiterating the softness of the passenger vehicle market and pinning their hopes for some revival in demand in the forthcoming festive season across India.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited, India’s largest carmaker, said that its total domestic sales, which include its light commercial vehicle Super Carry, for July were 1,48,781 units, a minor 1.5% decline from the year-ago period, where it sold 1,51,056 vehicles. In the April–July period, it sold 5,42,652 vehicles domestically, a 4.4% decline from the same period last year, highlighting the continued, challenging conditions in the domestic passenger vehicle market.

According to Partho Banerjee, head of sales and marketing at MSIL, the company’s small car segment, despite seeing a surge this month—mainly on the back of the Dzire bringing in good volumes—does not elicit hopes for a revival. Price-sensitive customers have been booking vehicles in the entry-level segment but have not been taking the deliveries, according to Banerjee. However, the company was able to give the segment a nudge this month with limited-edition variants and festive-centred offers. MSIL sold 65,677 units in the compact segment in July, a 12% jump from last year.

Utility vehicles, which have been driving growth for the industry, were a laggard for India’s largest maker of passenger vehicles this month, falling 6.3% year-on-year to 52,773 units in July. However, Banerjee has asserted that the Brezza and the Fronx have consistently performed well for MSIL. Still, it faces stiff competition in the segment, where an increasing number of products are being launched. “While the SUV segment is growing, the overall industry is not growing; it’s a resizing of the segments happening, which is not a good sign,” he added.

Something that is glaringly missing from MSIL’s portfolio is battery electric vehicles, and rivals are taking advantage, as MSIL would launch the e-Vitara only in September, with a bulk of its 70,000 production units earmarked for exports. Tata Motors, the first mass-market carmaker to double down on BEVs, said that it clocked in its highest-ever monthly sales of more than 7,100 retail units and more than 7,000 wholesale units. It also registered a record number of EV bookings in a single month. It was the only silver lining for what was a dour month for Tata Motors, with domestic passenger vehicle sales—which include the EV portfolio—falling 12% from last year to 39,521 units.

Mahindra & Mahindra, another homegrown carmaker, has seen a blockbuster response for its premium electric vehicles. According to the Vahan portal, Mahindra Electric Automobile Limited—the electric vehicle arm of the maker of Scorpio and Thar—saw 2,548 vehicles registered in July, buoyed by the recent commencement of deliveries for Pack two variants of the BE 6 and XUV 9E models. Overall, Mahindra saw a 20% jump in sales in the domestic market, selling 49,871 vehicles in the process. “Our SUV growth has been supported by the recent launch of the XUV 3XO ‘REVX’ Series,” said Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO, Automotive Division, M&M.

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor India Limited said that it achieved total monthly domestic sales of 43,973 units in July, plunging nearly 32% from the year-ago period. It also noted that 71.8% of the sales came from its SUVs, the highest since the company first began operations. “While the overall auto industry has seen some softness in recent months, we remain optimistic with the onset of the festive season and are fully geared up with robust supply,” said Tarun Garg, Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer at HMIL.