Dealers registered 2.54 million vehicles in September, up 31.82% year on year. FADA says the comparison is inflated by purchases delayed before last year’s GST change.
India’s vehicle retail market recorded its strongest September on record, with registrations reaching 2,536,920 units, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said on October 6. The total was 31.82% above September 2025 and 4.69% higher than August.
The annual jump needs context. Buyers had postponed purchases in September 2025 ahead of the rollout of GST 2.0, leaving an unusually low comparison base. FADA president Sai Giridhar said the month-on-month increase and the broader first-half trend offered cleaner signals: retail sales from April through September totalled 15,512,319 units, up 20.77% year on year.
Two-wheelers led volumes. Their retail sales climbed 33.08% year on year to 1,790,188, the segment’s best September and 15.3% above its previous September peak in 2018. Passenger-vehicle sales rose 32.10% to 427,213. Commercial vehicles crossed 100,000 units in a September for the first time, reaching 103,557, up 37.62%. Three-wheelers also posted a September record at 132,570.
Electric-vehicle retail reached a monthly record of about 334,000 units across categories, or roughly 13% of total sales, according to FADA. EVs made up 11.58% of two-wheeler retail and 8.45% of passenger-vehicle retail. Petrol and alternative fuels were nearly level in the passenger-vehicle mix at 41.27% and 41.00%, respectively.
Tractors were a weaker spot. Sales reached 76,906, up 13.75% from a year earlier but down 12.58% from August. Reuters reported that dealers linked the monthly decline to weak rural demand amid poor monsoon rainfall and a later festive calendar.
FADA also flagged affordability and dealer inventories as risks. Passenger-vehicle stocks stood at about 43–45 days, above the association’s 21-day benchmark, and 60% of dealers reported higher stock ahead of the festivals. The association said further price increases could erode some of the benefit consumers received from last year’s tax changes.