Carmakers in India shipped record 4.3 million vehicles in 2024

India's passenger vehicle volumes grew 4% year-on-year to clock an estimated wholesales of 4.3 million cars in the calendar year 2024 from 4.1 million units in 2023, according to top industry executives.

“The PV industry posted moderate growth in CY24 and is expected to touch a sales volume of 4.3 million units, with strong growth in the SUV segment and sustained traction for emission-friendly powertrains,” says Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.

India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki witnessed record wholesales of 17.90 lakh units in the calendar year 2024, says Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer for marketing and sales, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. The Japanese automaker sold 5.76 lakh compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered vehicles last year. From April to December 2024, Maruti Suzuki sold 4.53 lakh CNG cars, recording 26% growth compared to the same period of the previous year. CNG penetration rose to 38.7% in December 2024 from 31.4% in December 2023.

Passenger vehicle wholesales of Maruti Suzuki rose 24% year-on-year to 1.3 lakh units in December 2024 as dispatches of hatchbacks and mini cars to dealerships bounced back. Wholesales of mini and compact cars rose 29% year-on-year to 62,324 units last month. “We have seen good traction in the hatch segment in the month of December,” says Banerjee. In December, the top three models for Maruti Suzuki were hatchbacks—Swift, WagonR and Baleno. For the full calendar year, Maruti Suzuki’s top-selling cars were WagonR at 1,90,855 lakh units, followed by Ertiga at 1,90,002 units.

For Tata Motors, 2024 was the fourth consecutive year of highest-ever annual sales with 565,000 units. CNG volumes grew a substantial 77% with over 120,000 CNG vehicles sold in 2024. Tata’s SUV volumes grew 19%, with micro SUV Punch selling over 200,000 units to emerge as the highest-selling car model in India in 2024. SUVs account for 55% of total car sales in India.

“In Q3FY25, we recorded wholesales of 139,829 units (1% growth vs Q3FY24), and retail sales growth of 6% over Q3FY24... In EVs, we recorded 16,119 units of wholesales, recording 19% growth in the domestic personal segment, while fleet volumes declined due to the expiry of FAME II subsidy,” says Chandra, adding that the passenger vehicle industry saw a strong revival, driven by increased retails in the festive season in the third quarter of FY25.

India's second-largest carmaker, Hyundai Motor India registered domestic sales of 6,05,433 units in 2024, the highest since inception. The South Korean carmaker also achieved the highest-ever yearly domestic SUV contribution of 67.6%.

Mahindra & Mahindra's SUV wholesales grew 21% year-on-year to 4.02 lakh units from April to December 2024.