Passenger vehicle registrations dropped to 1.83 lakh during Navratri, marking the sharpest decline among vehicle categories, even as automakers reported strong deliveries and rising bookings.
Highlights
- Passenger vehicle registrations declined 21.9% to 1.83 lakh units during October 11–20.
- The decline was the steepest among all vehicle categories during Navratri.
- Last year’s high base and GST 2.0 rollout contributed to the sharp fall.
- Maruti Suzuki reported Navratri deliveries at around 98% of last year’s level.
Car Registrations Drop 22% During Navratri Despite Strong Festive Demand
Mumbai, October 22: India’s passenger vehicle market witnessed a sharp decline in registrations during Navratri 2026, even as leading automakers reported strong deliveries and healthy consumer demand during the festive season.
According to provisional data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), passenger vehicle registrations declined 21.9% year-on-year to 1.83 lakh units between October 11 and October 20. This marked the steepest decline among all vehicle categories.
Why Did Car Registrations Fall?
Industry experts attributed the decline largely to a high base from last year, when Navratri coincided with the rollout of GST 2.0.
Automobile sales had remained subdued for much of August and September last year before recovering sharply during the festive period.
FADA president Sai Giridhar said the decline was largely optical, as last year’s Navratri lasted 11 days compared with 10 days this year.
Despite weaker registration figures, industry executives maintained that underlying consumer demand remained healthy.
Maruti Suzuki Reports Strong Deliveries
Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest passenger vehicle manufacturer, said its Navratri deliveries reached approximately 98% of last year’s level.
Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer for sales and marketing at Maruti Suzuki, said the company could have sold more vehicles if additional inventory had been available.
The automaker is receiving around 12,000–12,500 bookings daily but can currently supply only 8,000–8,500 vehicles.
Pending bookings have increased to 2.7 lakh units from approximately 2 lakh at the beginning of October, reflecting sustained consumer interest.
Tata Motors and Hyundai See Healthy Demand
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles also reported encouraging festive demand, delivering more than 50,000 vehicles during Navratri, including over 10,000 units of the Tata Sierra on Dussehra alone.
Hyundai Motor India reported that registrations during Shradh and Navratri increased 30% to nearly 41,000 units.
Hyundai chief executive officer Tarun Garg expressed optimism that strong booking momentum would continue through Dhanteras and Diwali.
Mixed Performance Across Automakers
According to JATO Dynamics, registrations of petrol, diesel and CNG vehicles among leading manufacturers declined 5.2% to 1.69 lakh units.
Maruti Suzuki registered 74,387 vehicles, recording marginal growth of 0.1%.
Tata Motors registrations declined 16.4% to 24,843 units, while Hyundai recorded a 2.7% fall to 19,706 units.
Kia registrations dropped 9.3% to 9,731 units, whereas Mahindra & Mahindra recorded growth of 6.6% to 20,681 units.
Electric car registrations also declined 5.1% to 11,478 units.
Festive Sales Outlook Remains Positive
Despite the sharp decline in registrations, automobile manufacturers remain optimistic about demand during the remaining festive season.
Dealers said the actual market performance would become clearer after a few days because vehicle registrations on the government’s Vahan portal are recorded with a time lag.
Strong bookings, improved vehicle availability and continued festive purchases could help sustain momentum in India’s passenger vehicle market.
