Mahindra bucks Navratri trend as Vahan registrations rise 18.5%; here's how automakers fared

Mahindra & Mahindra emerged as the strongest performer among India’s leading passenger vehicle makers during the first eight days of Navratri, with registrations rising 18.5% year-on-year even as overall passenger vehicle registrations declined 3.3%, according to Vahan data.

The Vahan data for the eight-day period shows Mahindra registering 19,230 passenger vehicles, compared with 16,231 in the year-ago period. Maruti Suzuki registrations fell 2.4% to 65,921 from 67,547, while Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles declined 15.3% to 22,848 from 26,972. Hyundai Motor India registrations fell 6.8% to 17,201 from 18,453.

Across the industry, passenger vehicle registrations stood at 1,50,736 during the eight-day period, compared with 1,55,944 a year earlier.

Mahindra’s performance was also stronger across both its internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric vehicle portfolios. Its ICE registrations rose 13.9% to 16,861, while EV registrations increased 66.5% to 2,369.

Tata Motors recorded the highest EV registrations among the four manufacturers at 4,251, up 52.4% from 2,789. Hyundai’s EV registrations rose 81.2% to 212, while Maruti recorded 335 EV registrations compared with zero in the year-ago period.

Fada shows festive demand remains mixed

Fada’s nine-day data showed 10.32 lakh vehicles retailed between October 11 and October 19, up 1.95% from the comparable nine-day period last year.

Passenger vehicle retail during these nine days stood at around 1.72 lakh units, down 13.66% year-on-year. Two-wheeler retail was around 7.60 lakh units, up 5.78%, while commercial vehicle retail rose 14.21% to 34,120 units. Three-wheeler retail declined 1.65% to 43,057 units.

Industry maintains strong festive activity 

Hyundai Motor India MD & CEO Tarun Garg said the company had seen stronger registrations across Shradh and Navratri combined. “This year, the festive season has started on a strong note for Hyundai Motor India Limited, driven by robust Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi sales. During Shradh and Navratri, we witnessed registrations grow by 30% YoY to nearly 41,000 units,” Garg said.

“Considering the pace of bookings, we expect momentum to continue through Dhanteras and Diwali,” he added.

Hyundai also said demand remained healthy across urban and rural markets and pointed to customer interest in its new BAYON nameplate.

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles also reported strong festive activity. Amit Kamat, Chief Commercial Officer, said, “We are seeing strong festive cheer resulting in robust demand across our multi-powertrain portfolio of cars & SUVs, with improved customer sentiment driving higher showroom walk-ins, enquiries, bookings and deliveries.”

“The response during Navratri has been particularly encouraging, with over 50,000 vehicles delivered during this festive period, including more than 10,000 on Dussehra alone,” Kamat said.

Two-wheelers lead growth

Two-wheelers remained the biggest contributor to the nine-day FADA retail numbers, with 7.60 lakh units sold, up 5.78% from the comparable period last year.

Commercial vehicles also recorded growth, with retail rising 14.21% to 34,120 units. Three-wheelers, on the other hand, declined 1.65% to 43,057 units.

" Navratri'26 tells a fundamentally healthy story. At nearly 11.23 lakh units over ten days, retails are up close to 27% over Navratri’24 — the last truly comparable festive period — with Passenger Vehicles higher by over 10% and Two-Wheelers by more than 32%. The marginal 6.52% dip versus Navratri’25 is largely optical: last year Navratri ran eleven days against ten and coincided with the GST 2.0 roll-out, which pulled a wave of pent-up demand into one extraordinary window," said Sai Giridhar, President, Fada. 

 He added that EV retails grew 26.78% and now account for close to 10.5% of festive sales, up from about 7.7% a year ago, showing that India’s EV shift has become self-sustaining. "As we enter the Dhanteras-to-Diwali wave, we remain cautiously optimistic: affordability is strong, aspiration is rising, and auto retail continues to mirror the enduring momentum of the India Growth Story," he said.