After taking a look at the wholesales performance of car segment in May 2026, let us now take a look at the retail sales performance. India’s passenger vehicle retail market registered healthy growth in May 2026, with total retail sales reaching 4,02,591 units, compared to 3,26,656 units in May 2025. This translated to a gain of 75,935 units and a 23.25% YoY growth. However, compared to April 2026, retail sales dipped marginally by 1.17%, as volumes fell from 4,07,355 units.
India’s Total vehicle retail sales grew 9.55% YoY to 25.31 lakh units in May 2026, led by strong passenger vehicle growth of 23.25% YoY. However, compared to April 2026, overall retails declined 6.75%, with passenger vehicles down 6.10%, two-wheelers down 7.19%, and commercial vehicles down 18.33%. Tractors remained a bright spot, registering 11.17% YoY growth, indicating continued strength in rural demand.
Fuel Wise Car Sales – May 2026
Passenger vehicle fuel preferences continue to evolve. Petrol vehicles still lead with a 45.76% share, but are down from 48.15% a year ago. Diesel has also declined from 19.32% to 16.23%. In contrast, CNG gained share from 19.93% to 23.34%, while EVs rose from 4.51% to 6.63%, reflecting growing acceptance of alternative powertrains. Hybrid vehicles remained largely stable at around 8% market share.
Car Retail Sales May 2026
Maruti Suzuki remained India’s largest carmaker by a wide margin, retailing 1,64,925 units in May 2026. Sales increased by 33.31% YoY, with the company adding over 41,000 units compared to the same month last year. Tata Motors secured second place with 55,544 units, registering a strong 39.25% YoY growth. The company added 15,656 units over May 2025 and captured 13.80% market share.
Mahindra followed closely with 51,311 units, growing by 10.43% YoY. While Mahindra continued to post healthy volumes, Tata’s stronger growth helped it widen the gap in retail sales rankings. Hyundai retained fourth position with 46,223 units, up 12.80% YoY, while Toyota rounded off the top five with 26,294 units, recording a modest 6.34% growth.
Kia India delivered 24,644 units in May 2026, registering a healthy 33.57% increase over the previous year. The brand added more than 6,000 units and maintained a market share of 6.12%. Among mainstream manufacturers, Renault and Nissan emerged as the fastest-growing brands. Renault retail sales jumped 70.59% to 4,217 units, aided by strong demand for Duster and Kiger. Nissan recorded an even stronger 84.36% growth, with sales rising to 2,959 units.
BYD continued its upward trajectory with 686 units, while VinFast recorded 1,238 units as the Vietnamese EV brand continued expanding its presence in India. In the luxury segment, BMW reported 1,371 units, growing by 16.88% YoY. Mercedes-Benz, however, saw sales decline by 12.64% to 1,327 units. JLR sales declined by 11.25% to 363 units, while Jeep posted a steeper 30.90% decline, retailing 208 units.
Market Share Analysis
Maruti continued to strengthen its grip on the market, accounting for nearly 41% of all passenger vehicle retail sales. Tata and Mahindra followed with 13.80% and 12.75% shares respectively, while Hyundai held 11.48%. Together, the top four manufacturers — Maruti, Tata, Mahindra and Hyundai — accounted for nearly 79% of India’s passenger vehicle retail market in May 2026, underlining the concentration of market share among leading OEMs.
Month-on-Month Trends
While overall retail sales declined slightly compared to April, Maruti was among the few major manufacturers to record positive month-on-month growth, increasing sales by 4.05%. Renault also reported a 3.18% MoM increase, while BYD posted the strongest monthly gain at 46.27%. Most other brands witnessed mild declines, including Tata (-3.72%), Mahindra (-7.11%), Hyundai (-2.58%), Toyota (-2.64%) and Kia (-2.31%).
