Festive season drives auto sales, Toyota and Honda lead car sales surge
Overall vehicle sales growth slipped to 4.1 percent in October, down from 5.6 percent in September
By Samreen Wani
Last Updated: Nov 14, 2025, 18:21 IST2 min
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Despite a healthy surge in sales in the passenger cars segment, the Indian automotive sector delivered a mixed performance in October 2025, with overall vehicle sales growth slowing down. October is the first full month to reflect the GST rate cuts.
A Forbes India analysis of vehicle sales data from industry body SIAM shows that while there was a sharp festival-driven spike in car sales, this recovery—after September’s tepid performance—was driven by Toyota Kirloskar and Honda cars.
The cut in GST rates and the festive demand has significantly increased the sales of Toyota Kirloskar, which grew by almost 45 percent in October (year-on-year) compared to a 2 percent growth in the previous month. Similarly, the sales for Honda cars witnessed a sharp surge, growing at 24 percent, compared to a significant contraction in September.
While market leader Maruti Suzuki also posted a 10 percent increase, Volkswagen showed a lower 4 percent increase in sales in October. It is to be noted here that, in absolute figures, Toyota Kirloskar and Honda sell fewer cars than Maruti Suzuki does.
The success of these manufacturers, however, stands in stark contrast to the struggles faced by several other major players in the same month. For instance, Hyundai saw its sales dip by 9 percent while Renault India continued its steep decline at 21 percent.
More critically, only Toyota’s success appears to be structural. For instance, when considering the year-to-date (April–October) figures for FY26, Toyota Kirloskar maintains a positive YTD growth. In contrast, while Honda’s October performance was stellar, its total YTD sales are still down significantly, by 11 percent. The festive boost masks a long-term slump as overall car sales have dipped by 3.8 percent so far in FY26.
The total vehicle sales figure painted a more moderate picture. Overall vehicle sales growth slipped to 4.1 percent in October, down from 5.6 percent in September. The key drag was the two-wheeler segment, a key indicator of rural and entry-level consumer sentiment, which decelerated sharply to 2.1 percent in October from nearly 7 percent in September. Further analysis shows that motorcycle sales contracted by 4 percent in October while scooter sales increased by 14 percent.
Mr Rajesh Menon, director general, SIAM, said that October witnessed a strong uptick in vehicle registrations. He further added that despite “being constrained due to certain logistic limitations”, October recorded the highest ever passenger vehicle, two- and three-wheeler dispatches to dealers “buoyed by the festive demand and the recent GST rate reduction”.
First Published: Nov 14, 2025, 18:32
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