Carmakers Sell 4.3 Million Units in 2024, SUVs' Share Jumps To 54%

Despite facing a slowdown over the last few months, the Passenger Vehicle (PV) market witnessed an upward trend in volumes in the year 2024. As per industry estimates, car sales in India reached 4.3 million units during last year, thus registering an annual growth of 4.7 per cent. 

As per industry players, the higher growth in yearly volumes were largely driven by Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) segment, which accounted for 54 percent of the total cars sold in the country. Furthermore, rural markets played an instrumental role in driving up volumes, thus enabling the industry surpass the previous best of nearly 4.1 million units posted in 2023. 

Automakers like Maruti Suzuki , Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), etc., reported record-breaking SUV sales during calendar year 2024. During the month of December too, domestic PV wholesales increased by nearly 11 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 320,000-325,000 units largely due to robust recovery in the urban market, year-end discounts, and a higher uptake of CNG-driven models.  

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) claimed that it registered its highest-ever annual wholesales after six years, with 17,90,977 units in 2024, which is higher than the previous best of 17,51,919 units registered in 2018. The company recorded retail sales of 17,88,405 units in 2024, breaking the previous record of 17,26,661 units sold in 2023.

Maruti, Hyundai, etc., see a growth in numbers in 2024

In December 2024, MSIL’s total domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 1,30,117 units compared to 1,04,778 units in the same month a year ago, up 24.18 per cent. A senior company official attributed the growth in numbers to various initiatives by the company such as expansion of Nexa outlets in tier-II and tier -III cities.

"Our rural sales have done pretty well. In the month of December, rural (sales) has grown by the tune of 16 percent. Furthermore, in quarter three, rural growth has been pretty good, thanks to the good monsoon and good MSP prices. These have really helped in terms of growth in the rural market," stated Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Partho Banerjee. He also

The recently-listed Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) also recorded its highest-ever yearly domestic sales of 6,05,433 units in 2024, up marginally from 6,02,111 units in 2023. However, its December domestic sales were flat at 42,208 units compared to 42,750 units in December 2023, down 1.3 per cent.

"We have managed to sustain sales momentum in 2024, despite strong headwinds faced by the industry at large," said Tarun Garg, Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer, Hyundai Motor India Limited, adding “Hyundai Creta continued to strengthen our position as an SUV leader, helping HMIL accomplish highest ever domestic SUV contribution of 67.6 percent in CY 2024."

For Tata Motors , CY24 was the fourth consecutive year of highest-ever annual sales with 565,000 units sold. In December 2024, Tata Motors posted a 1 per cent growth in total PV sales at 44,289 units compared to 43,675 units in the year-ago month.

"We registered strong growth in our SUV portfolio with successful product introductions built on our proven multi-powertrain strategy, " stated Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. He went on to add, "CNG volumes grew a substantial 77 percent with over 120,000 CNG vehicles sold in CY24. SUV volumes grew a robust 19 percent, with Punch selling over 200,000 units to emerge as the highest selling car model in India in CY24."

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) registered sales of 41,424 units of PVs in December 2024 against 35,174 units in the year-ago period, up by 18 per cent YoY. The homegrown automaker sold over half-a-million SUVs for the first time in a calendar year. The company sold 528,460 units in CY 2024, a 22 per cent surge over 433,172 units sold in 2023. 

Similarly, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) stated that it recorded its best-ever calendar year sales of 3,26,329 units in 2024, higher by 40 per cent against 2,33,346 units sold in 2023. 

Kia India reported a 6 per cent rise in total sales at 2,55,038 units in 2024, recording its highest-ever annual sales. It sold 2,40,919 units in 2023. JSW MG Motor India reported a 55 per cent increase in sales at 7,516 units in December 2024.