Vehicle registrations in India declined 6.5% year-on-year during Navratri 2026, with passenger vehicles recording the steepest fall, although automakers said festive demand remained healthy and EV registrations continued to grow strongly.
New Delhi, October 22 — Vehicle registrations across India declined 6.5% year-on-year during Navratri 2026, according to provisional data shared by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).
Total retail vehicle sales between October 11 and October 20 stood at around 11.23 lakh units, compared with 12.01 lakh units during the corresponding festive period last year.
FADA said the comparison was affected by a high base because last year’s Navratri lasted 11 days instead of 10 and coincided with the rollout of lower GST rates, which triggered a surge in purchases.
The passenger vehicle segment saw the steepest decline, with registrations falling 21.9% to 1.83 lakh units.
Two-wheeler registrations declined 2.8% to 8.34 lakh units, while three-wheeler registrations fell 7.5% to 45,735 units.
However, commercial vehicle registrations increased 1.1% to 35,618 units, while tractor registrations edged up 0.9% to 22,690 units.
FADA President Sai Giridhar said the 6.52% decline was largely “optical” because of the unusual base effect created by last year’s GST changes.
Automakers also indicated that underlying festive demand remained strong.
Maruti Suzuki said its deliveries during Navratri were around 98% of last year’s level, despite capacity constraints.
The company said sales from the beginning of Onam to Dussehra were up around 30% year-on-year, and it expects double-digit growth for the full festive season through Diwali.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles said it saw strong showroom walk-ins, enquiries, bookings and deliveries.
The company delivered more than 50,000 vehicles during Navratri, including over 10,000 units on Dussehra alone.
Hyundai Motor India also reported healthy demand across urban and rural markets.
Its registrations between the Shradh period and Navratri rose 30% year-on-year to nearly 41,000 units.
One of the strongest trends was the continued rise of electric vehicles.
According to FADA, EV retail sales grew 26.78% during the festive period and accounted for nearly 10.5% of total sales, up from around 7.7% a year earlier.
FADA said it remains cautiously optimistic for the Dhanteras-to-Diwali period, supported by improving affordability, rising consumer aspirations and continued momentum in auto retail.
