Small car slowdown hits Maruti Suzuki’s June sales

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd on Tuesday reported a 13% year-on-year decline in passenger vehicle wholesales — shipments from the factory to dealers — as small cars continued to reel under the “affordability” pressure.

“The slowdown in passenger vehicle sales is largely due to a sharp decline in the smaller segment cars. Historically, passenger vehicle sales used to grow at 1.5 times the GDP growth. But now even after 6.5% GDP growth, the car market is nearly flattish,” Rahul Bharti, Senior Executive Officer, Corporate Affairs, Maruti Suzuki, said in a statement.

“This is because the once mass small car segment is not participating in the growth at all,” Bharti said, adding that this is clearly an “affordability issue”.

Wholesale of Maruti Suzuki’s entry-level cars, Alto and S-Presso, declined 31% year-on-year to 6,414 units in June.

“Since 2019, entry-level price point in the industry has jumped by over 70%, largely driven by stricter regulations and the sales of smaller cars have fallen by over 70%,” Bharti said.

India’s largest carmaker is making up the decline in domestic sales by exporting more vehicles. Maruti Suzuki’s exports grew 22% year-on-year to 37,842 units in June.

Meanwhile, South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor India Ltd reported domestic wholesales of 44,024 units and exports of 16,900 units in June 2025. HMIL’s export contribution reached 26.7% to its total sales in Q1 of FY26.

Commenting on HMIL sales, Tarun Garg, Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer, HMIL said, “Underscoring the global appeal of Hyundai vehicles, we recorded a 13% year-on-year growth in export volumes for Q1 FY2026, with 48,140 units shipped compared to 42,600 units in the same period last year. This has elevated the share of exports to 26.7% of total sales in Q1 FY2026, up from 22.2% in Q1 FY2025.

“In the domestic market, the geopolitical situation continued to affect the market sentiment with domestic sales registering 44,024 units in June 2025. As we come closer to the beginning of production at the Talegaon plant, we remain cautiously optimistic about a gradual recovery of demand, supported by reduction in repo rates and improving liquidity on account of cut in CRR. We are closely watching the global geopolitical scenario and are committed to delivering value and innovation to our customers across both domestic and export markets,” Garg added.

Homegrown carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) bucked the sales trend by announcing an 18% year-on-year increase in wholesale SUV sales for June, with the company delivering 47,306 units to dealerships across India during the month.

However, Tata Motors recorded a 15% year-on-year decline in domestic passenger vehicle wholesales in June 2025, with factory-to-dealer dispatches dropping to 37,083 units from 43,524 units in June 2024.

Japanese carmaker Toyota Kirloskar Motor sales in the month of June 2025 was 5% higher than that of June 2024. Toyota reported wholesales of 28,869 units last month.