Passenger vehicle sales stay strong in May; Maruti, Kia hit record highs

New Delhi: Carmakers posted healthy growth in May, with Maruti Suzuki and Kia India registering record sales, carrying forward the momentum witnessed at the beginning of the new fiscal.

Maruti Suzuki India on Monday reported its highest-ever monthly sales, with domestic sales of 1,93,535 units in May 2026, compared to 1,38,690 units in the year-ago month.

Despite the fuel price hikes affecting demand, the company has been able to put up a strong performance with holistic growth, Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Partho Banerjee, told PTI.

"Fuel prices going up really affects small car sentiments, specifically the customers who are buying small cars, but we achieved fantastic growth in 'mini' and compact segments with an overall 42 per cent rise in passenger cars," he said.

Sales of mini cars, comprising the Alto and S-Presso, rose to 16,275 units last month from 6,776 units in May 2025. Sales of compact cars, including Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift and WagonR, rose to 81,555 units last month against 61,960 units in May 2025.

The company's total passenger vehicle sales in May stood at 1,90,337 units as against 1,35,962 units in the same month last year, excluding commercial vehicles.

The impressive show by Maruti Suzuki could be due to the impending price hike by up to Rs 30,000 announced by the automaker from June 2026.

Outlining the correlation between the fuel price hike and demand for cars, as it increases the total cost of ownership, Banerjee said, "If the fuel prices keep going up, it will surely have an impact on the auto industry." He said bookings of the company's all-electric e-VITARA have doubled to over 4,000 units after the petrol price hikes. Similarly, CNG vehicle bookings have also gone up by 1.4 times, Banerjee added.

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles sales in the domestic market stood at 59,090 units last month as against 41,557 units in the year-ago period, a growth of 42 per cent, a regulatory filing by the company showed.

Meanwhile, homegrown player Mahindra & Mahindra sold 58,021 units in the domestic market, up 11 per cent from the year-ago period.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) reported a 9.1 per cent year-on-year increase in domestic sales at 47,837 units in May 2026.

HMIL MD & CEO Tarun Garg said the company has continued its strong momentum of the year into May as well. Kia India reported a 23.6 per cent YoY growth in wholesales at 27,586 units in May 2026, compared to 22,315 units in May 2025.

It was the "highest-ever sales in May" since market entry, Kia India said in a statement.

"Our highest-ever May sales performance reflects the strong alignment of our product portfolio with evolving customer preferences across segments," Kia India Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Atul Sood said.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor's domestic sales stood at 30,574 units in the reported month against 29,280 units in the same month a year ago, registering a four per cent YoY growth, the company stated.

JSW MG Motor India on Monday reported sales of 6,048 units in May 2026. The company, however, did not provide comparable year-on-year figures.