The industry’s monthly average sales have been around 2.06 million units in this fiscal. At a conservative estimate, cars and motorcycles worth over Rs 75,000 crore were registered in the 31-day period.
23 Oct 2025 | 4588 Views | By Kiran Murali
Buoyed by strong pent-up demand and a sharp reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST), vehicle registration across India from Navratri is estimated to have grown around 19% to 3.45 million units, compared to the same period last year. Capitalizing on the tax cut during the peak festival season, the ...
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Buoyed by strong pent-up demand and a sharp reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST), vehicle registration across India from Navratri is estimated to have grown around 19% to 3.45 million units, compared to the same period last year. Capitalizing on the tax cut during the peak festival season, the auto industry is now among the leading sectors seeing significant gains.
According to estimates from industry sources, registration of two-wheelers on the Vahan portal increased 20% year-on-year to 2.57 million units between September 22 (start of Navratri) and October 22 (Diwali day), compared with the same peak festival period last year. Passenger vehicle registration rose 17% to 586,000 units during the period.
At a conservative estimate, assuming an average selling price (ASP) of Rs 9.5 lakh for passenger vehicles — factoring in the lower tax rates and growing demand for smaller cars — and Rs 80,000 for two-wheelers, it is estimated that passenger vehicles worth over Rs 55,000 crore and two-wheelers worth more than Rs 20,500 crore were registered during this period.
Growth was strong across most commercial segments. Registrations for three-wheelers surged 11% to 134,000 units, while light commercial vehicles jumped 23% to 71,745 units, and tractors increased 9% to 60,153 units. However, the positive trend was slightly dampened by medium and heavy commercial vehicle registrations, which saw a 2% decline to 28,398 units.
The actual retail sales numbers between Navratri and Diwali may be higher, as there is a usual delay of a few days or a week between a vehicle being sold at a dealership and its official registration being recorded in the government's Vahan portal. Also, the Vahan dataset does not include registration information from approximately 5% of RTOs nationwide.
The demand for vehicles, especially two-wheelers and passenger vehicles, has been strong since September 22, which marked the beginning of both the Navratri season and the effective date for the new, reduced GST rates.
The surge in sales was driven by the traditional excitement of the peak festival season and significant pent-up demand. Many consumers had deferred their purchases in late August and early September, anticipating lower GST rates after Prime Minister Modi's announcement on August 15 that taxes would be reduced.
The market's dynamics, as described by FADA Vice President Sai Giridhar, saw customers initially holding back on purchases during the first three weeks of September to wait for the anticipated GST 2.0 reforms. However, demand surged dramatically in the final week of the month when the lower GST rates and the Navratri festival began, successfully reviving sentiment and accelerating vehicle deliveries.
According to data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), overall vehicle retail sales during the Navratri period were at a record level with a 34% year-on-year growth. Two-wheelers rose by 36%, passenger vehicle retails grew by 34.8%, while three-wheeler and commercial vehicle retails increased by 24.5% and 14.8%, respectively.
India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, last week said it received over 450,000 bookings since announcing the GST 2.0 price cuts, including 1 lakh for small cars, while overall festive-period retails have already crossed 325,000 units by Dhanteras.
Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle division also reported a strong festive season performance, delivering over 100,000 vehicles during the 30-day period from Navratri to Diwali, representing a 33% increase compared to the same period last year.
The festival season in India starts with Ganesh Chaturthi or Onam in Kerala towards the end of August or the beginning of September and extends till Bhai Dooj after Diwali, in November across the majority of states. The period from the end of Shradh to Diwali is considered the peak festival season.
Vehicle registration growth across the broader festive window, from Ganesh Chaturthi on August 27 to Diwali on October 22, showed a far less robust rate than the accelerated growth witnessed specifically during the peak festival season between Navratri and Diwali. This is largely because of deferred purchases in anticipation of lower taxes during Navratri.
Between August 27 and October 22, total vehicle registration is estimated to have grown by just 6% to 4.65 million units, compared to the same festival period last year. Two-wheeler registrations grew 7% to 3.4 million units in the 57-day period, passenger vehicles saw a 5% increase to 769,000 units, while LCV and tractor segments recorded an 11% rise each.
Three-wheeler registrations remained flat at around 311,000 units, while the MHCV segment saw a decline of 4% to 46,818 units. In 2024, Ganesh Chaturthi was on September 7, Navaratri started on October 3, and Diwali was on November 2.