Top Selling Carmakers In FY2021

Tata became the third most popular brand in the period, ahead of Kia and Mahindra

The performance of the auto industry can be measured by multiple parameters, each of which offers a different insight into the overall working. One of these is the total number of vehicle registrations for a given period. So let’s look at the findings of The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in India for the financial year 2021, i.e., from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, to understand how manufacturers have fared:

Note: This data collected by FADA does not include figures from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Lakshadweep, and Telangana.

Takeaways

• It comes as no surprise that Maruti Suzuki continues to lead the passenger vehicle space in India, with a market share of over 48 percent despite switching to a petrol-only model lineup in 2020-21. 

• A long way behind Maruti but still in a league of its own, Hyundai is the second most popular automotive brand in India. Its FY2021 market share stands at 17.36 percent despite the relatively premium pricing of its best-selling models such as the Creta and i20.

• Tata is one of the few brands to have enjoyed an increase in its registration figures between FY2020 and FY2021, by around 20,000 units. Its market share of 7.87 percent made it the third most popular automotive brand in FY2021. 

• Kia entered the Indian market in August 2019 and by FY2021, it has already managed to become the fourth most popular brand in India, with a market share of 5.50 percent. That’s an impressive achievement for a brand with only three models on offer. Much of this can be attributed to the commercial success of the Seltos and Sonet. Its registration numbers more than doubled between FY2020 and FY2021.

• Mahindra seems to have been the worst affected by the economic slump of FY2021 with registrations dropping by nearly a lakh as compared to FY2020. Despite the popularity of the second-gen Thar, the Indian carmaker seems to be struggling against new competitors in the urban SUV market with new products being delayed due to the pandemic.

• Toyota’s total registrations dropped by over 30,000 units between FY2020 and FY2021 and its market share slipped from 3.97 to 3.24 percent. Its premium models have enjoyed sustained popularity in their segments while the cross-badged models from Maruti have also aided the carmaker’s monthly sales figures.

• The seventh most popular brand according to FADA’s vehicle registration data is Renault. Its market share increased marginally between FY2020 and FY2021 to 3.15 percent. It could continue to rise further on the back of its newer offerings, the Kiger and Triber.

• Honda lost significant ground in the automotive space during FY2021. Its registrations dropped by over 40,000 units, compared to FY2020, and its market share dropped from 4.19 to 2.99 percent. During this period, the carmaker introduced the new-gen City. We believe the absence of compact and subcompact SUVs continues to shrink the brand’s overall presence in the Indian car market.

• MG Motor increased its market share from 0.69 to 1.12 percent in FY2021 thanks to the popularity of the Hector. The carmaker introduced new three-row versions of the same and a new full-size premium SUV during this period. Its market share could increase with the expected launch of the ZS compact SUV (likely to be known as Astor).

• The least popular brand in the mass car market for FY2021 is Nissan with a market share of 0.51 percent. During this period, its lineup was briefly reduced to a single model, the Kicks. However, the recently launched Magnite sub-4m offering should see the brand’s figures improve over the course of the new financial year.