Car sales rose for the third straight month, in healthy double digits this December amid better consumer demand in the local market, pushing annual volumes to a record 4.3 million units in 2025. In December, industry estimates dispatches of cars from factories to dealerships to have gone up by 10-12% to 320,000-325,000 units with manufacturers replenishing stocks at dealerships after robust retails in the festive season. Automakers in India mostly report wholesale dispatches and not retail sales to customers. ET was the first to report on Dec 23, that after slow growth in the first six months of the fiscal, car sales have started showing signs of turnaround and will close at a record high in CY2025. Industry numbers were supported by market leader Maruti Suzuki which saw wholesale volumes rise by as much as 24% to 130,117 units last month. The company, in fact, posted it’s best-ever retails last month at 252,693 units bringing down overall stocks in the network to 9 days, Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) told ET. “We also registered our highest-ever annual sales of 1.79 million units last year (CY2025), breaking the earlier record of 1.75 million units seen six years back in 2018. In addition to SUVs, our new launches in the hatchback and sedan segments have been received well which helped boost sales across categories this year”, Banerjee informed. The newly launched entry sedan DZire clocked 25,000 bookings in December, he said. After six months of slow growth in this fiscal year on back of extreme heatwaves and the general elections, car sales grew by about 1% in October and 4% in November. Passenger vehicle sales grew by 3% in the first quarter. Korean auto major Hyundai reported a decline of 1.3% in monthly sales at 42,208 units in December. However, annual volumes grew to a record 605,433 units in CY2025. Tarun Garg, Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer, Hyundai Motor India Limited said, “HMIL has managed to sustain sales momentum in 2024, despite strong headwinds faced by the industry at large.” The company’s saw robust demand for its range of SUVs, which contributed as much as 67.6% to overall volumes last year. Homegrown auto major Tata Motors outpaced Hyundai Motor India in monthly sales in December at 44,230 units. But closed the calendar year with sales of 565,000 units. Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said, “The PV industry posted moderate growth in CY24 and is expected to touch asales volume of 4.3 million units, with strong growth in the SUV segment and sustained traction for emission-friendly powertrains. In Q3 FY25, the industry saw a strong revival, driven by increased retails in the festive season…Looking ahead, we remain optimistic about the outlook for the PV industry.” Mahindra saw volumes go up by 18% to 41,424 units last month. At JSW MG Motor India sales rose by 55% to 7,516 units in December. Toyota - which operates in a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group - reported a growth of 16.5% to sell 24,887 units last month. Annual sales for the company was best-ever last year at about 300,000 units. Sabari Manohar – Vice President, Sales-Service-Used Car Business, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, "We are immensely proud to close 2024 with a record-breaking performance, achieving an impressive 40% year-on-year growth. The SUV and MPV segments being key contributors grew at 20% over the same period last year. We are also observing a growing shift of consumer preferences towards vehicles offering sustainability, value proposition of dependability quotient, enhanced safety and better resale value which is boosting our sales.” In the commercial vehicle segment, demand continued to be subdued with market leader Tata Motors reporting a decline of 1% to sell 32,369 units in December. Girish Wagh, Executive Director, Tata Motors, however, said, sales of commercial vehicles are improving quarter-on-quarter. Further, the company’s sales in December 2024 were ~24% higher than those recorded in November 2024. “Propelled by a resurgence in construction and mining activities post-monsoon, plus the festive season demand, HCV segment witnessed robust sequential quarter on quarter (QoQ) growth in sales during Q3 FY25, even as the YoY sales declined 9% due to limited growth in end-use segments. The ILMCV (intermediate, light, medium commercial vehicle) segment witnessed ~3% YoY growth, driven by strong demand, with the MCV segment continuing its robust growth trajectory to record a 40% YoY increase during Q3FY25”, Wagh informed. Looking ahead, Tata Motors expect demand to improve in Q4 FY25 across most segments of the CV industry. Wagh added, “The key aspects to watch out in 2025 will be government's focus on infrastructure spend, and growth in end use segments, which will augur well for the commercial vehicles industry.” In the domestic CV market, Eicher branded trucks & buses recorded sales of 7,545 units in December 2024 as compared to 7,468 units in December 2023. Volvo Trucks and Volvo Buses recorded sales of 289 units in December 2024 as compared to 237 units in December 2023, representing a growth of 21.9%.Company / Dec 2023 / Dec 2024 / % ChangeMaruti Suzuki – 104,778 / 130,117 / 24.2Hyundai Motor – 42,750 / 42,208 / -1.3Tata Motors - 43,470 / 44,230 / 2Mahindra & Mahindra – 35,171 / 41,424 / 18Toyota Kirloskar – 21,363 / 24,887 / 16.5JSW MG Motor – 4,848 / 7,516 / 55Nissan – 2,150 / 2,118 / -1.5Domestic sales only Source : Companies