India's passenger vehicle industry recorded a sharp acceleration in April 2026, with domestic sales reaching 3,78,312 units against 3,03,648 units in the same month a year earlier, according to data published by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Production for the month stood at 4,39,259 units, up 12.8% from 3,89,254 units in April 2025, while exports grew to 67,308 units from 59,395 units, a gain of 13.3%.
Utility vehicles, the segment that has reshaped the Indian passenger vehicle market over the past several years, were again the primary driver of growth in absolute volume terms. Domestic sales in this category rose to 2,44,280 units from 2,01,062 units a year ago, an increase of 21.5%. Production of utility vehicles crossed the 2.8 lakh mark at 2,80,446 units, up 16.1%, while UV exports grew to 35,289 units from 31,115 units.
Passenger cars, a segment that has ceded market share to utility vehicles over successive years, showed a notably strong recovery in retail dispatches. Sales climbed to 1,20,945 units in April 2026 from 91,148 units in April 2025, representing a 32.7% increase — the steepest percentage gain among the three passenger vehicle sub-segments. Production of passenger cars rose a more conservative 7.9% to 1,46,552 units, indicating that inventory carryover from prior months may have contributed to the sales outperformance.
The van segment, though small in overall volume, also posted gains. Maruti Suzuki's Eeco — the primary product in this category — recorded domestic sales of 13,087 units, up from 11,438 units a year earlier. Mahindra's Maxximo, which re-entered the data with 50 units produced in April 2026, contributed a marginal 1 unit to van exports. Total van domestic sales rose 14.4% to 13,087 units.
Segment Performance
Within the passenger car category, the compact sub-segment — sedans, hatchbacks, and notchbacks between 3,600 mm and 4,000 mm — continued to account for the majority of volumes. Domestic sales in compact cars rose to 1,01,645 units from 80,223 units in April 2025, a gain of 26.7%. Maruti Suzuki's portfolio of compact models including the Swift, Baleno, Dzire, WagonR, and Celerio drove a significant share of this volume, with the manufacturer recording compact car sales of 80,659 units. Hyundai's compact lineup — the Grand i10, Aura, and i20 — contributed 14,360 units.
The mini sub-segment, comprising hatchbacks under 3,600 mm with engine displacements up to 1.0 litre, also saw a sharp uptick. Sales reached 16,066 units in April 2026, up from 6,332 units a year ago, driven entirely by Maruti Suzuki's Alto and S-Presso models. Production in this sub-segment more than doubled to 17,745 units from 9,714 units, suggesting inventory was being built up to meet renewed demand at the entry-level price point.
Mid-size passenger cars — generally between 4,250 mm and 4,500 mm in length — continued to lose ground in both production and sales. Retail dispatches in this sub-segment fell to 2,205 units from 3,337 units in April 2025. Hyundai's Verna was the primary contributor at 865 units sold, while Volkswagen's Virtus recorded 1,162 units. Nissan's Sunny, which had just 1 unit sold in April 2026, did not record any production for the month, signalling the model's diminished commercial presence.
Executive and premium sedan categories remained confined to low volumes. The Skoda Slavia posted 830 units in domestic sales under the executive sub-segment, while the Toyota Camry accounted for 199 units in the premium category. Both figures were broadly in line with their respective year-ago levels, reflecting the limited size of the traditional sedan market above the ₹15 lakh price band.
Within utility vehicles, a detailed sub-segment breakdown from SIAM's Report IV shows the mid-range UV1 category — vehicles between 4,000 mm and 4,400 mm priced below ₹20 lakh — as the fastest-growing category in the entire passenger vehicle market. Domestic sales in UV1 rose to 86,301 units from 56,853 units, a gain of over 51%, and production nearly matched that pace, climbing to 1,04,337 units from 67,899 units. The surge in this sub-segment was broad-based: Maruti Suzuki's models in this band — including the Grand Vitara, e Vitara, Ertiga, and Victoris — contributed 40,482 units in domestic sales. Kia's Seltos added 10,566 units, and the newly reintroduced Renault Duster contributed 2,359 units, having been absent from this sub-segment's April 2025 data.
The entry-level UVC sub-segment — utility vehicles under 4,000 mm priced below ₹20 lakh — also saw growth, with domestic sales rising to 98,540 units from 88,094 units. Hyundai's Exter and Venue together contributed 20,516 units in this band, while Mahindra's compact UV lineup including the Thar, XUV 3XO, and Bolero added 20,256 units. Maruti Suzuki's UVC models — the Brezza, Fronx, and Jimny — recorded 33,646 units in domestic sales.
The UV3 sub-segment — vehicles over 4,700 mm priced below ₹20 lakh — posted a 41.9% gain in sales to 14,664 units, partly driven by Toyota's Innova Crysta and Innova HyCross, which together contributed 9,630 units. Mahindra's XEV range in this band added 4,853 units.
UV2 vehicles — those between 4,400 mm and 4,700 mm priced below ₹20 lakh — were broadly flat at 41,191 units, with Mahindra's Scorpio, XUV 700, Thar Roxx, and XUV7XO collectively accounting for 30,052 units in this band. Premium UV categories — UV4 (₹20–30 lakh) and UV5 (above ₹30 lakh) — saw domestic sales decline 12.3% and 14.9% respectively. Within UV5, Toyota's Fortuner, Hilux, Land Cruiser, and Vellfire range contributed 2,717 units, down from 3,225 units a year ago. Kia's Carnival and EV6 contributed 164 units, while FCA India's Jeep Meridian declined to 81 units from 105 units.
Manufacturer Highlights
Maruti Suzuki India retained its position as the dominant manufacturer across all passenger vehicle categories in April 2026. Its passenger car production reached 1,06,368 units, with retail dispatches of 96,725 units — both comfortably ahead of any other manufacturer. In utility vehicles, Maruti produced 87,518 units and recorded domestic sales of 77,892 units, an increase of about 32% over the 59,022 units sold in April 2025. Across all three PV sub-categories combined, Maruti accounted for approximately 49% of total passenger vehicle domestic sales in April 2026, underscoring the breadth of its model lineup across price points.
Mahindra & Mahindra was the second-largest UV seller with 56,331 units, a gain of 7.6% from 52,330 units. Its UV range spans multiple sub-segments, from the compact Thar and XUV 3XO in UVC to the Scorpio and XUV 700 in UV2 and the XEV range in UV3. Combined UV and van domestic sales came to 56,381 units, making it the leading non-Maruti manufacturer in terms of total domestic PV retail volumes for the month.
Hyundai Motor India recorded total passenger vehicle domestic sales of 51,902 units — 15,225 units in passenger cars and 36,677 units in utility vehicles. While its UV sales rose 16.5%, its passenger car sales grew by a more measured 18.1% to 15,225 units from 12,891 units. Hyundai's Creta in the UV1 sub-segment recorded 15,291 units in domestic sales, though this was down from 17,016 units in April 2025. Its compact UV range — Venue and Exter — contributed 20,516 units, a significant jump from 13,369 units a year ago.
Kia India's total UV domestic sales stood at 27,286 units, up 15.5%. Its Seltos in the UV1 sub-segment posted 10,566 units — a recovery from 6,135 units a year ago — while the Sonet and Syros in the UVC band together recorded 11,091 units. The Carens in the UV2 category added 5,465 units, broadly in line with the year-ago level of 5,259 units.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor's UV domestic sales grew 30.1% to 26,597 units. Its Innova Crysta and Innova HyCross remained the primary contributors in the UV3 band at 9,630 units, while the Urban Cruiser HyRyder posted 11,700 units in UV1. The company produced 33,777 utility vehicles in April 2026 against 25,079 units a year earlier, a 34.7% jump in production output.
Renault India's utility vehicle domestic sales surged to 5,003 units from 2,007 units in April 2025, an increase of around 149%, with the newly relaunched Duster accounting for 2,359 units in the UV1 sub-segment and its Kiger and Triber models contributing the remainder through the UVC band. Renault's UV production correspondingly rose to 4,466 units from 897 units. In passenger cars, Renault's Kwid retained a stable presence with 410 domestic sales.
Volkswagen India's Virtus contributed 1,162 units in mid-size passenger car sales, while its Taigun in the UV1 band added 1,543 units. Skoda Auto India's domestic sales across the Slavia, Kylaq, Kushaq, and Kodiaq totalled 6,886 units in April 2026, marginally below its April 2025 level of 7,419 units. Honda Cars India's combined passenger vehicle domestic sales — the City, Amaze, and Elevate — came to 4,069 units, up from 3,360 units a year ago.
Exports
The passenger vehicle industry dispatched 67,308 units overseas in April 2026, up 13.3% from 59,395 units in the same month last year. Passenger car exports rose to 31,335 units from 27,947 units, utility vehicle exports increased to 35,289 units from 31,115 units, and van exports more than doubled in relative terms to 684 units from 333 units, though the absolute volume remains small.
Maruti Suzuki was the largest exporter in both passenger cars and utility vehicles. In passenger cars, the manufacturer shipped 16,058 units compared with 11,272 units in April 2025. In utility vehicles, Maruti's exports reached 22,897 units, a jump from 16,124 units a year ago, reflecting growing international demand for vehicles from its UV range and pointing to an expanded role for its India plants in global supply chains.
Hyundai Motor India's passenger car exports, by contrast, declined to 12,012 units from 13,785 units — a drop of around 12.9% — suggesting a moderation in outbound shipments even as domestic sales grew. Its UV exports also fell to 1,696 units from 2,615 units in April 2025. Volkswagen India's Virtus continued to serve as an export product, with 2,461 units shipped. Kia India exported 2,906 units in utility vehicles, up from 2,304 units a year ago. Bajaj Auto's quadricycle — the Qute — recorded 966 units in exports for the month against nil domestic sales, illustrating its positioning as an export-focused product with no active domestic market presence.
The passenger car segment's 32.7% sales growth, while pronounced, should be contextualised by the comparatively weaker April 2025 base, particularly in the mini and compact bands. The mini sub-segment's 153.8% jump in domestic sales to 16,066 units — driven by Maruti Suzuki's Alto and S-Presso — is partly a reflection of how low volumes were in April 2025, when the sub-segment recorded only 6,332 units. A significant portion of passenger car growth is therefore attributable to a low-base effect rather than a broad-based structural shift in consumer preference back towards conventional sedans and hatchbacks.
The mid-size, executive, and premium sedan sub-segments collectively recorded around 3,234 units in domestic sales for April 2026, a number that has remained structurally low for several years. India's sedan market above the compact price band has continued to contract as consumers at similar price points opt for utility vehicles instead — a trend visible in the persistent volume gap between, for instance, the Hyundai Verna (865 units) and the Hyundai Creta (15,291 units), both positioned in broadly comparable price ranges.
The production-to-sales gap in total passenger vehicles was notably narrow in April 2026. Manufacturers produced 4,39,259 units while domestic sales of 3,78,312 units and exports of 67,308 units together implied combined offtake of 4,45,620 units — slightly above production, suggesting some drawdown of pipeline inventory. The comparatively contained production growth of 12.8% against a 24.6% rise in domestic sales may also reflect manufacturing capacity running at high utilisation, particularly in the UV1 sub-segment where output more than doubled year-on-year, pointing to strong order books and limited headroom for further production expansion in the near term without additional capacity investment.