Car Sales 2026 (Year to Date): 36,36,636 Units, Up 23.1% YoY
Every car registered in India over CY 2026 so far — January 2026 to September 2026. The calendar year, January to December. Month-by-month volumes, the manufacturer leaderboard, how the segment moved against the rest of the market, and the same window in every earlier year on record.
Live. CY 2026 is still in progress — this page updates every day as new registrations are published.
Car sales month by month, CY 2026
India's passenger car market registered 36,36,636 cars in CY 2026 so far. Volumes grew strongly 23.1% against the 29,53,581 logged over the same 9 months of CY 2025.
January was the strongest month of the period at 5,09,341 cars and August the quietest at 3,75,701, an average of 4,04,071 a month. Every one of those 9 months grew on the same month a year earlier.
CY 2026 still has 3 months to run. Held at the pace of the 9 months already counted, it would finish near 48.49 L cars — a run rate rather than a forecast, and the festive quarter moves it more than anything else on this page.
Cars accounted for 15.3% of everything registered in India over the period, up from 15.1% in CY 2025. The whole market ran to 2,37,70,759 vehicles over the same window, up 21.8% year on year.
Car registrations by month — CY 2026 vs CY 2025
Vahan retail registrations, each month set against the same month a year earlier. The lighter bar is October so far, not yet in the CY 2026 total.
Every completed month of CY 2026, with the matching month of CY 2025 beside it.
| Month | CY 2026 units | CY 2025 units | YoY | Share of period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2026 | 5,09,341 | 4,58,945 | +11.0% | 14.0% |
| February 2026 | 3,78,204 | 2,95,504 | +28.0% | 10.4% |
| March 2026 | 4,30,116 | 3,39,514 | +26.7% | 11.8% |
| April 2026 | 3,92,347 | 3,45,177 | +13.7% | 10.8% |
| May 2026 | 3,81,407 | 2,97,308 | +28.3% | 10.5% |
| June 2026 | 3,85,439 | 2,91,099 | +32.4% | 10.6% |
| July 2026 | 3,88,123 | 3,16,060 | +22.8% | 10.7% |
| August 2026 | 3,75,701 | 3,13,596 | +19.8% | 10.3% |
| September 2026 | 3,95,958 | 2,96,378 | +33.6% | 10.9% |
Each month links through to its own full report.
Which manufacturer sold the most, CY 2026
Maruti Suzuki led the period with 13,59,838 registrations, up 23.4% on CY 2025. Mahindra follows on 4,60,562, 8,99,276 behind — a gap of 2.95x.
The fastest riser in the top 15 was Mahindra Electric Automobile, up 168.1% to 54,333, while Mercedes-Benz was broadly flat (−0.9%) at 12,851.
Volumes here are registrations inside the segment only, counted with Vahan's own vehicle-class filter, so each is the manufacturer's car volume over CY 2026. Companies that file electric models under a maker of their own appear as separate rows.
Top manufacturers by registrations — CY 2026
Registrations inside the segment (cars only).
Exact registrations over January 2026 to September 2026, with the change against CY 2025.
| # | Manufacturer | CY 2026 units | Share of cars | vs CY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maruti Suzuki | 13,59,838 | 37.39% | +23.4% |
| 2 | Mahindra | 4,60,562 | 12.66% | +19.0% |
| 3 | Tata Motors (PV) | 4,38,889 | 12.07% | +28.2% |
| 4 | Hyundai | 4,25,188 | 11.69% | +10.8% |
| 5 | Toyota Kirloskar | 2,46,281 | 6.77% | +15.1% |
| 6 | Kia India | 2,40,734 | 6.62% | +30.0% |
| 7 | Tata Motors (EV) | 98,209 | 2.70% | +98.2% |
| 8 | Skoda | 80,773 | 2.22% | +0.0% |
| 9 | MG Motor | 59,000 | 1.62% | +8.5% |
| 10 | Mahindra Electric Automobile | 54,333 | 1.49% | +168.1% |
| 11 | Honda Cars | 47,498 | 1.31% | +7.4% |
| 12 | Renault India | 34,021 | 0.94% | +42.6% |
| 13 | Nissan India | 24,549 | 0.68% | +58.9% |
| 14 | BMW India | 15,444 | 0.42% | +21.5% |
| 15 | Mercedes-Benz | 12,851 | 0.35% | −0.9% |
Car sales against the rest of the market
Set against the rest of the market, cars outgrew the national picture over CY 2026: +23.1% against +21.8% for every vehicle registered in India.
The table covers every segment Vahan reports over the same 9-month window, so the comparison is like for like — the same months, the same source, on both sides.
Car share of the Indian market, month by month
Cars as a percentage of every vehicle registered that month.
Exact segment volumes over January 2026 to September 2026.
| Segment | CY 2026 units | Share | vs CY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-Wheelers | 1,67,72,044 | 70.56% | +22.0% |
| Cars & UVs | 36,36,636 | 15.30% | +23.1% |
| Three-Wheelers | 11,13,230 | 4.68% | +16.0% |
| Tractors | 8,41,425 | 3.54% | +21.5% |
| Goods Carriers | 8,01,356 | 3.37% | +24.8% |
| Taxis & Cabs | 3,35,990 | 1.41% | +28.3% |
| Other classes | 1,66,446 | 0.70% | −0.4% |
| Buses | 1,03,632 | 0.44% | +1.4% |
What cars run on
Vahan splits a segment by fuel only across a whole calendar year, so this table covers 2026 year to date rather than CY 2026 alone — it is exact for that window.
Petrol accounts for 46.4% of car registrations over 2026 year to date, with battery-electric at 6.8%.
Car registrations by fuel — 2026 year to date
The 2026 year to date mix.
| Fuel | 2026 units | Share | vs full-year 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 17,66,793 | 46.41% | −4.95pp |
| CNG / LPG | 7,41,208 | 19.47% | +1.99pp |
| Diesel | 6,95,432 | 18.27% | −0.14pp |
| Hybrid | 3,44,265 | 9.04% | +0.69pp |
| Electric | 2,58,719 | 6.80% | +2.40pp |
| Other | 872 | 0.02% | +0.01pp |
Car sales, year by year
Across the 2 completed windows in our Vahan record, car registrations went from 39,00,386 in CY 2024 to 42,69,911 in CY 2025, up 9.5% over the stretch.
CY 2026 is still running — 9 of its 12 months are counted — so it is a part window and is never set against a full one. Its year-on-year figure compares only the months it actually holds.
Car registrations by calendar year
* window still in progress.
| Period | Months | Units | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| CY 2026 (to date) | 9 | 36,36,636 | +23.1% |
| CY 2025 | 12 | 42,69,911 | +9.5% |
| CY 2024 | 12 | 39,00,386 | +3.5% |
Each row compares only the months that window holds, so a part period is never set against a full one.
Where the demand was
State-level volumes for a single segment come from a calendar-year table, so the figures below cover 2026 year to date. Maharashtra leads with 4,49,627 registrations, 11.8% of the segment.
| # | State | Units | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maharashtra | 4,49,627 | 11.8% |
| 2 | Uttar Pradesh | 4,08,754 | 10.7% |
| 3 | Gujarat | 3,22,063 | 8.5% |
| 4 | Tamil Nadu | 2,78,491 | 7.3% |
| 5 | Karnataka | 2,70,001 | 7.1% |
| 6 | Haryana | 2,39,411 | 6.3% |
| 7 | Kerala | 2,17,548 | 5.7% |
| 8 | Rajasthan | 2,09,851 | 5.5% |
| 9 | Madhya Pradesh | 1,75,149 | 4.6% |
| 10 | Delhi | 1,66,984 | 4.4% |
| 11 | Punjab | 1,52,961 | 4.0% |
| 12 | Telangana | 1,42,520 | 3.7% |
Frequently asked questions
How many cars were sold in India in CY 2026?
What period does CY 2026 cover?
Which manufacturer sold the most cars in CY 2026?
Which was the strongest month for car sales in CY 2026?
What share of the Indian market were cars in CY 2026?
What will full-year CY 2026 car sales be?
Which calendar year had the highest car sales?
Are these retail sales or factory dispatches?
Car sales, other periods
More from the reports desk
Source. Every figure is a vehicle registration, taken daily from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways' Vahan 4 dashboard (vahan.parivahan.gov.in) — the same source FADA and the industry use for retail data. Registrations are not the wholesale dispatch numbers manufacturers announce each month. "EV" means battery electric (Vahan fuels PURE EV and ELECTRIC(BOV)); hybrids are counted separately. Information only, not investment advice.
Using these numbers? Cite "Flash Finance (Vahan data)" with a link to this page. This report's chart card is free to republish with the same credit.
