Maruti Suzuki recorded a massive drop in its market share in September 2021, while Tata Motors registered a major gain
The Indian auto industry had shown a strong sales recovery post lockdown, but ahead of the festive season, things seem to have gone slow. The Indian car market saw a major drop in sales overall, with negative Month-on-Month growth for every carmaker, and positive Year-on-Year growth for only a few.
Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, saw a gigantic drop in its market share, from 50.5 per cent in September 2020 to 33.9 per cent in September 2021. Hyundai retains its second spot on the sales chart, with a 17.8 per cent market share, up slightly from 17.2 per cent in September last year. Tata Motors saw the biggest gain in market share last month, up to 13.8 per cent from 7.2 per cent in September 2020.
Kia India took the fourth spot, with a market share of 7.8 per cent, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra at 7.0 per cent. Toyota Kirloskar Motor came in at the sixth position, with a market share of 5.0 per cent. Renault and Honda grabbed the seventh and eighth spots, respectively, with 3.9 per cent and 3.6 per cent market shares.
MG Motor and Skoda both had a market share of 1.7 per cent in September 2021, while Nissan managed to take the eleventh place, grabbing a market share of 1.5 per cent, followed by Volkswagen at 1.4 per cent. Next in line is Jeep, which had a market share of 0.2 per cent.
Citroen only managed to grab a tiny share in the Indian car market (0.04 per cent), as its lineup only consists of a single, niche product at the moment. The French carmaker will launch the C3 compact crossover in our market next year, which will likely bring major sales gain to the manufacturer.
| Manufacturer | Market Share (September 2021) | Market Share (September 2020) |
| Maruti Suzuki | 33.9% | 50.5% |
| Hyundai | 17.8% | 17.2% |
| Tata | 13.8% | 7.2% |
| Kia | 7.8% | 6.4% |
| Mahindra | 7.0% | 5.0% |
| Toyota | 5.0% | 2.8% |
| Renault | 3.9% | 3.0% |
| Honda | 3.6% | 3.5% |
| MG | 1.7% | 0.9% |
| Skoda | 1.7% | 0.4% |
| Nissan | 1.5% | 0.3% |
| Volkswagen | 1.4% | 0.7% |
| Jeep | 0.7% | 0.2% |
| Citroen | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Ford | 0.0% | 2.0% |
Ford had a market share of 0 per cent, as it has decided to quit its India operations. The manufacturer is planning to return in the near future, but with only imported premium vehicles, not mass-market ones.
The upcoming festive season is expected to help carmakers boost their sales figures; however, the global semiconductor chip shortage is a major problem. Due to the lack of chips, manufacturers are forced to limit production, which in turn affects the sales numbers.