Passenger Vehicle Sales Hit Record 46.43 Lakh Units in March: SIAM

India's passenger vehicle market closed FY2025-26 with record annual sales, driven by tax relief, lower borrowing costs and GST cuts. Industry body SIAM on Tuesday said domestic passenger vehicle dispatches from auto manufacturers to dealers rose 16 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 4,42,460 units in March 2026, compared against 3,81,358 units in the same month a year ago. For the full financial year, the segment clocked 46.43 lakh units which is a growth of 7.9 per cent over FY25. The fourth quarter alone delivered 13.16 lakh units, also a record for any Q4, up 13.2 per cent year-on-year.

“Though FY 2025-26 started modestly, the Indian Auto industry has closed the year on a high note with every vehicle category viz. Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles, Three-Wheelers and Two-Wheelers, together posting their highest ever sales in a Financial Year, after seven years. The strong contributors to this growth have been the positive sentiments created through GST 2.0 reforms and multiple Repo Rate cuts during the year," Shailesh Chandra, President, SIAM, told reporters in New Delhi. 

The second half of the financial year proved particularly strong, growing 16.7 per cent against the same period in FY25, offsetting a modest decline of 1.4 per cent in the first half. 

According to SIAM, the recovery to improved affordability following GST rate cuts on passenger vehicles, greater purchasing power from personal income tax relief and lower financing costs after successive repo rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). A surge of more than 80 per cent in electric passenger vehicle registrations during the year provided further push.

Exports also reached a record high, with 9.05 lakh passenger vehicles shipped overseas in FY26 -- up 17.5 per cent on the previous year. However, demand held up across most export destinations, including the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Beyond passenger vehicles, two-wheeler dispatches climbed 19.3 per cent in March to 19,76,128 units from 16,56,939 units a year earlier, while three-wheeler deliveries to dealers rose 21.4 per cent to 76,273 units from 62,813 units in March 2025.