Anticipating a strong demand for petrol, diesel, CNG run cars in December and in the months ahead, automakers ramped up production in November, show production data filed by listed automakers with the stock exchanges.Beating the start of the calendar year 2025 forecast in India, car sales are likely to end the year with a record retail of 4.6 million units, up 10.5 per cent year-on-year from 4.12 million units in 2024. Though e-car sales are set to close the year with a record 193,000 units, up 9.39 per cent from 176,430 units, EV demand has been push-led and lacks the organic pull seen in petrol, diesel, CNG-powered cars, as per estimates from JATO Dynamics. With the expectation of a slow demand through the year carmakers had pencilled in a low to single digit growth in dispatches to dealers or wholesales for 2025. However, a strong pick-up in the second half of the year led by the slash in GST fuelled demand for compact SUVs coinciding with the peak festive season. This compensated for the lacklustre performance in the initial part of the year.
Car sales in India—both wholesales and retail—have been advancing at a fast clip from October and expected to retain the momentum in the new year, said industry executives.
“In the 11 months till November, close to 3.9 million cars are estimated to have been retailed. December may see another 550,000 ending the year with around 4.45 million units,” said an executive at a carmaker.
Anticipating a strong demand for petrol, diesel, CNG run cars in December and in the months ahead, automakers ramped up production in November, show production data filed by listed automakers with the stock exchanges.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki, for instance, increased passenger vehicle production in November to 207, 471 units, up 26 per cent year on-year. Similarly, Mahindra & Mahindra also increased production of its utility vehicles to 56,613 units, up 10 per cent year on-year.
Referring to the EV sales trend, Ravi Bhatia, president and director, JATO Dynamics, said, “The EV sales have doubled, yet they still account for ~4 per cent of the PV market. This is not a demand problem as petrol, diesel, CNG cars are selling. It is a failure to cross the chasm. In the technology adoption curve, early adopters buy on belief. The early majority buys only when risk collapses. Indian EVs have convinced the first group—but not the second.”
ET had reported in its December 9 edition on EV makers doling out record consumer benefits—ranging from ₹1 lakh to up to ₹7 lakh to push the current calendar year’s models out of the showrooms amid tepid demand.
EV adoption will meaningfully scale only when range claims are trusted, charging and resale risks are resolved, and ownership becomes predictable—until then, growth will be high in percentage terms but shallow in market share, noted Bhatia.
