By Meenakshi Maidas and Nandan Mandayam
(Reuters) -Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra logged a 20% year-on-year jump in SUV sales to dealers in July on strong demand for newer models and electric SUVs, while its rivals struggled, data from the firms showed on Friday.
Most Indian carmakers, barring Mahindra, are struggling to grow sales amid a broader industry slowdown in the world’s third-largest car market.
Having gotten off to a slow start to 2025, manufacturers are counting on a pick-up in demand from late August, buoyed by festivals, as well as tax cuts and lower interest rates.
Still, for the year to March 2026, they expect industry-wide car sales to grow just 1% to 2%, compared to a 2% growth in the previous year.
Domestic sales for Hyundai India and Tata Motors slid by a tenth each in July, as the companies suffer from stalling demand for their small cars and older SUVs – a segment which contributes two-thirds to their dispatches.
Successful launches over the past year at Mahindra have drawn customers away from Hyundai and Tata Motors, with Mahindra leaping past the two to the no. 2 spot in the domestic car market, long held by Hyundai.
However, Tata Motors, which leads sales of electric vehicles in India, reported a 42% jump in EV sale volumes to a record 7,124 units.
The EV leader’s dominance has been challenged over the last year by Mahindra and JSW MG Motor.
Meanwhile, market leader Maruti Suzuki reported that sales to dealers were largely flat. Although sales of small cars such as the Swift rose for the first time in six months, this was offset by a decline in SUV sales.
Maruti’s July performance was hurt by price hikes to upgrade models with six airbags, its sales and marketing head Partho Banerjee said in a call on Friday.
(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman)
