Cars, with higher price tags and greater exposure to financing, are vulnerable to policy expectations and consumer hesitation. Two-wheelers, more affordable and often linked to essential mobility, respond more directly to sentiment, seasonality, and practicality.
01 Sep 2025 | 3225 Views | By Glenn Noronha
The Indian automobile market in August 2025 told two very different stories. Passenger vehicle makers stumbled badly, reporting rare synchronized declines, while two-wheeler manufacturers surged ahead, setting new sales records and milestones on the back of the early festive season.
Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra & Mahindra, and ...
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The Indian automobile market in August 2025 told two very different stories. Passenger vehicle makers stumbled badly, reporting rare synchronized declines, while two-wheeler manufacturers surged ahead, setting new sales records and milestones on the back of the early festive season.
Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Tata Motors all saw shipments contract between six and twelve percent compared to a year earlier. This downturn came despite Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi arriving earlier than usual, typically a reliable spark for showroom footfalls. Instead, the timing clashed with policy speculation. From mid-August, expectations spread that the government was weighing a cut in GST rates on automobiles from 28 percent to 18 percent. For a buyer considering a mid-sized SUV priced at ₹15 lakh, the prospect of saving nearly ₹1.5 lakh was reason enough to delay a purchase. Dealers, wary of being saddled with unsellable high-tax stock, kept their inventories lean. Manufacturers, too, throttled wholesale dispatches to shield their networks from the risk of unsold inventory losing value overnight. The result was a rare month of decline across the board, festival season or not.
While cars idled in uncertainty, two-wheelers raced ahead. TVS Motor Company became the standout, crossing the half-million total vehicle sales milestone for the first time in its history. The company sold just over 509,000 units in August, which included around 18,000 three-wheelers. Its two-wheeler business alone accounted for nearly 491,000 units, up a strong 30 percent from a year earlier. Within that, scooters surged past 222,000 units, outpacing motorcycles at 221,870. Domestic volumes rose to nearly 369,000 units, while exports climbed to more than 121,000. It was a month that underscored the strength of both sides of TVS’s business: a growing base of urban scooter buyers at home and a widening footprint in international markets.
Royal Enfield had even more reason to celebrate. The company posted its highest monthly sales ever, dispatching 114,000 units, a 55 percent leap from August 2024. Of these, more than 102,000 were sold in the domestic market, where demand for the brand’s distinctive mid-sized motorcycles surged in step with the festival calendar. Chief Executive B. Govindarajan described the performance as a reflection of both strong consumer sentiment and the company’s ability to capitalize on auspicious timing. For a brand that thrives on lifestyle positioning and aspirational purchases, the early festive start appears to have delivered a perfect tailwind.
Bajaj Auto, which has been battling to sustain momentum in its core two-wheeler business, found itself in more mixed territory. Domestic sales fell 12 percent, slipping to around 184,000 units. Yet this was more than offset by a strong revival in exports, which climbed 25 percent to nearly 158,000 units. In total, Bajaj’s two-wheeler business ended the month slightly ahead of last year, with 342,000 units sold. For a company whose fortunes have often been tied to international demand swings, the export boost proved critical, cushioning what might otherwise have been a disappointing August.
The split between two-wheeler and passenger vehicle trends is striking not only for its scale but also for its drivers. In four-wheelers, GST speculation froze the market, nullifying the traditional festive bump. In two-wheelers, by contrast, the same early festivals provided a surge in demand. Here, affordability and immediacy matter more than speculation. A scooter or commuter motorcycle buyer weighing a ₹70,000 purchase is far less likely to delay on the chance of a potential policy shift. Many two-wheeler customers also see the festive season as the most auspicious time to buy, even advancing purchases by a few weeks to match the calendar. That instinct helped Royal Enfield set records and TVS rewrite its sales book.
Exports added another important cushion. Both TVS and Bajaj benefitted from strong overseas demand, while Royal Enfield too saw international markets holding firm. For carmakers, exports were less of a factor in August, with the domestic slowdown dominating headlines.
The contrasting fortunes underline the different sensitivities within India’s auto sector. Cars, with higher price tags and greater exposure to financing, are vulnerable to policy expectations and consumer hesitation. Two-wheelers, more affordable and often linked to essential mobility, respond more directly to sentiment, seasonality, and practicality.
Looking ahead, the split sets the stage for an intriguing festive quarter. If GST rates remain unchanged, carmakers may hope for pent-up demand to release in September and October, restoring some of the lost momentum. Two-wheeler manufacturers, meanwhile, will aim to sustain their August highs, banking on both domestic festivals and healthy export pipelines.
For now, August 2025 stands as a reminder of how sharply fortunes can diverge within the same industry. Four-wheelers, shackled by speculation, missed their festive moment. Two-wheelers, buoyed by timing, exports, and consumer enthusiasm, seized it to race into record books.