India Auto Sales Rise 25-36% YoY in February; FY26 Retail Growth Turns Firmly Double Digit

India’s automobile retail market recorded strong double-digit growth across segments in February 2026, with Vahan retail data showing year-on-year expansion ranging between 25% and 36% across key categories. The broad-based uptick has now pushed year-to-date FY26 growth into double digits for all major segments.

According to an analysis by Elara Securities, two-wheelers and passenger vehicles each grew 25% year-on-year in February. Tractors and medium and heavy commercial vehicles expanded 36%, three-wheelers (L5) rose 35%, while light commercial vehicles increased 27%, underscoring strength across both personal mobility and commercial demand.

In absolute terms, two-wheeler retails stood at 1.70 million units, passenger vehicles at 384,556 units, tractors at 87,104 units, MHCV at 43,718 units, LCV at 60,625 units, and three-wheelers (L5) at 74,905 units.

With February data included, FY26 year-to-date retail growth has turned firmly positive across segments. Two-wheelers are up 12% year-on-year, passenger vehicles 11%, tractors 19%, three-wheelers 16%, light commercial vehicles 12% and MHCV close to 10%.

“The industry has now moved into double-digit growth territory on a year-to-date basis across segments,” said Jay Kale, Analyst at Elara Securities, pointing to the breadth of the recovery across rural, urban and infrastructure-linked demand cycles.

Electric vehicle volumes continued to outpace the broader market in February. Electric two-wheeler retails rose 46% year-on-year to 112,000 units, with penetration improving to 6.6%, up 100 basis points year-on-year. However, FY26 year-to-date penetration stands at 6.2%, only 40 basis points higher than last year.

Passenger vehicle EV volumes grew 45% year-on-year to 13,659 units in February, taking penetration to 3.6%, up 50 basis points. On a year-to-date basis, PV EV penetration stands at 4.2%, up 170 basis points year-on-year.

According to Kale, for EV penetration to reach around 20% by FY30, annual increases of at least 350 basis points would be required, indicating that while EV volumes are growing robustly, the pace of penetration expansion remains below the trajectory needed to meet medium-term electrification targets.

With all major segments now delivering double-digit year-to-date growth, the February retail data suggests the industry is entering the final month of FY26 on a stronger and more broad-based footing.