The voice about India’s car market staring at stagnancy is growing amid much selling by foreign investors in the stock market. Auto sticks of OEMs and suppliers have taken a beating lately. The reasons for stock market decline are said to be structural issues as well as geopolitical issues. In other words, they are local as well as global in their nature. The Indian auto industry – as the largest contributor of GST to the exchequer and among the highest contributor to the country's manufacturing GPD – is also quite local and global in its ways of working. 

Like any other developing nation, it is a market where the scope for an increase in automobile population is bright. It is also a market that is beset by structural issues nonetheless. With 34 cars owned per 1,000 people, the country with a population estimated to be 1,463,865,525 in 2025 has ample scope for auto sales growth. 

But as banks struggle for liquidity and a reduction in repo rate by the apex bank fails to reflect in the reduction of loan interest rates or equated monthly instalments, the structural issues facing the automobile industry are too stark to overlook.

Adding to the structural issues are perhaps developments such as the recent announecement by Maharashtra Government to levy six percent motor vehicle tax on premium electric vehicles. The leading industrialised state also has among the highest road toll taxes among other Indian states. The highway network in the state is among the most lacking and unsafe. Most roads in the state have either deteriorated or are under a seemingly unending period of repairs. 

The state government in its 2025 budget has also announced that it has raised the motor vehicle tax by one percentage point on individual-owned non-transport four-wheeler CNG and LPG vehicles. Such vehicles currently attract a seven to nine percent tax depending on their type and price.

While electricity costs have been rising with distribution companies like MSEDCL pushing for a revision in fixed and energy charges for various categories in order to bridge revenue gap, owning electric vehicles and CNG vehicles is becoming costlier though eco-friendlier.

Attracting over 200 percent in taxes, petrol and diesel prices have been at an all-time high. A timely upward revision in toll prices is only adding further to the cost of motoring in a country where close to or more than 50 of the vehicle purchase price amounts to taxes. Spares are also taxed at a hefty 28 percent and the labour costs have steeply risen post Covid-19 pandemic.

With vehicle prices being jacked up by automakers under the pretext of rising input costs by about four to five percent if not more, the Indian auto industry is clearly under pressure to maintain its margins and stay profitable.

Against the operating costs, the foot falls in the showroom are taking longer to realise into actual sales. Discounts are gaining speed and indicative of sales losing stream in some of the segments that were until recently doing very well.

Any excitement about a rebate in Income Tax up to INR 1,200,000 – it takes over INR 1,000,000 to purchase a decent car in India today – seeming to have faded into thin air, the talk about government announced a reduction in GST taxes has gained speed. When it would actually come into effect is yet to be known but the narrative has started building. The stock market does not look excited however and the money lost by domestic investors may take a long time to come back, it seems.

As US President Donald Trump speaks about exposing India’s ‘wrong’ tariff policies in the absence of any statement from the Indian government striking out his claims, the Indian market for automobiles and other consumer goods looks destined for a rough ride. Stagnancy will be a part of the plot, the repercussions of which would stem from domestic structural issues as well as geopolitical shifts where calls like ‘China Plus One’ hold no value at all anymore.

With the entry of Tesla – which has seen its sales and stock prices plummet in many of existing markets off late – set to enter India with the government lowering tariff under pressure from the US President, the subject of too much regulation needs to be examined in terms of structural strength and the industry’s ability to be competitive. Local manufacture is also a subject that needs to be looked at as MSME sector continues to shrink and take down with it the PMI index.

Skilling is also a subject that should be looked at as engineering courses lose interest with the young in the country. A manufacturing-less economy that is also witnessing the services sector face a slowdown – again due to structural and geopolitical issues – may not spell a good omen for growth in the long run. This, particularly in the case of a country whose median age in 29 years.

China’s ‘Deep seek’ has shown how the prowess in technology can shift overnight and highly influence the economy of a nation, its stock markets suddenly. In India, the auto industry should nurture the MSME sector as much as the government should. A services alternative in terms of growth over manufacturing may not hold forth in the long-term. Manufacturing exports can shrink abruptly anytime under the shifting regulatory and other market issues in the domestic marketplace and under the shifting geopolitical situations in various parts of the world that also make lucrative export markets.  

Image for representative purpose only. 

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Mumbai-based automotive major Mahindra Group is preparing to test the waters of India’s nascent lifestyle pickup segment, while accelerating a deliberate international expansion and doubling down on its electric vehicle ambitions.

It was on 14^th August that Mahindra took the wraps off its much-anticipated global pickup truck christened – ‘Mahindra Lifestyler’ and ‘Scorpio Lifestyler’ (for India market), based on the popular Scorpio SUV. While the technical details and pricing have still been kept under wraps, what's known is that it will be available in three variants - Trail, Valley and Reef editions. It will be launched by April 2027 with prices starting under INR 1.95 million (ex-showroom). 

R Veluswamy, President - Automotive Technology & Product Development, Mahindra Group and Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra, outlined a strategy rooted in what they describe as latent customer demand rather than existing market size.

“The latent demand, latent need is the most important thing,” Gollagunta said. “So far what we have seen is, it’s a compromise choice they make. Because they don’t have the right product at the right price point. So, they’re making either a compromise on the capability or making a compromise on the budget.”

He added, “We believe that the latent demand for an uncompromised choice means there’s an open space for us to play.”

Veluswamy reinforced the point by recalling the original Scorpio’s arrival. “When we first saw the car, we all were blown away, but no customer had expressed that they wanted such a car. So, to say that the pickup segment is not exist may be a statement that’s not representative of the customer. They may not know how to express it. The latent desires are always understood.”

He continued: “We have seen customers who want the pickup character and who want the SUV character and who want the 4x4 character at an affordable price point. If you put all of them together, Mahindra has the deep pickup expertise. Mahindra has the deep SUV expertise; we put all of them together, and we think it will click with the customer.”

The forthcoming Scorpio-badged Lifestyler pickup was originally conceived as a global product.

“You have to remember three years ago, this was a global pickup as we call it. This was for the global market. But in three years, we have had enough indications to tell us that there’s some latent demand in this market,” Gollagunta noted.

Responding to a query on the volume expectations, Gollagunta said, “I won’t get into the volumes to be honest. The way we are looking at it is we are the third largest automotive market in the world. We believe the market is evolving and maturing and becoming a lot more sophisticated. The problem we see is there are not enough of these choices in these markets.”

Veluswamy pointed to past surprises as evidence that the right product can rewrite expectations. “How many of us thought the 9E would have such volume? And the 9S when we launched, how many of us thought that would have that volume? It clearly tells if you have the right product for the right customer needs. They don’t look at the price. They look at the value proposition.”

He added of the XUV700: “Who in the earth would have imagined that this car will be selling at 9,000 units per month. Who would have thought?”

The Scorpio brand itself is viewed as elastic enough to support the new model. “Our sense is the Scorpio brand means a lot to different people,” Gollagunta observed.

“There are a lot of customers who have a Scorpio Classic, who tell us that I will not buy a Scorpio N. A lot of Scorpio N customers say that I don’t see myself in a Scorpio Classic. Yet the market has stretched and you have two distinct segments with very loyal customers on both sides. So, it’s hard to predict right now. Our view is there’s enough elasticity in the brand today to take a price that is very distinct in itself,” he said.

Pricing has been carefully signalled rather than fixed. “I’ve given one so that now I can have conversations,” Gollagunta explained. “The starting price is less than this, we said. It’s a conversation starter for me to have conversations with customers.”

Veluswamy clarified, “The starting price is less than that. We haven’t announced the price. We have just put a number.”

When queried about the production capacity for the upcoming Lifestyler, “Every new product comes, it comes with a capacity,” Veluswamy said. “So there is a capacity for the product, and there is an operationalisation based on the demand; you operationalise the capacity.”

The vehicle will benefit from body-on-frame technology, 4x4 expertise and technologies already proven elsewhere in the range. “We are riding on that high price point SUVs, which means high technologies that we already use in our ICE and EVs. That is what we are bringing to pickup,” he noted.

Beyond India, the company is pursuing a measured three-phase global approach.

“There is a three-phase strategy. The core markets where we have a strong legacy will continue to double down. Those markets: South Africa, Australia for sure. The second wave is the other LHD markets where we think there is significant potential for us. And we have talked about UK. If we go there, we want to go there to win. And if you are not convinced we cannot win, we will be careful about doing it. I am not in a hurry because I have a core market which is doing well. But we will go out there; the difference is we now have products which are built for the globe,” Gollagunta averred.

Veluswamy provided market context: “We sold about 235,000 units last year (2025) in Australia. And about 135,000 units in South Africa. But the majority of them are these mid-size pickups. The South African market is looking for versatility. Whereas the Australian market is looking for adventure, freedom, go anywhere, towing 3.5-tonne trailers, premium upmarket. So, it is really two different markets.”

The Indian market in the recent past has seen a slew of automakers in the passenger vehicle space introduce hybrid products. For Mahindra, the message has been clear: electrification was unambiguous.

“Our focus is electric, electric, electric. That’s it,” Veluswamy declared.

Furthermore, the company had no intention to dilute its SUV focus simply to chase EV volume elsewhere. “We play in the SUV market. So wherever there is an SUV market, we bring electric. You have to see multiple parameters. It’s not one-dimensional.”

Gollagunta added that electric powertrains are already on the roadmap for future platforms: “We did have the NU_IQ we launched last year, and we said that there is going to be electric powertrains on NU_IQ. But if we do it, it has to be in a way that we believe taps into a platform architecture.”

Veluswamy highlighted the recently introduced BE6 for its intelligence layer.

“The intelligence of the car is different from intelligent driving. Naturally, it can speak to you. You can ask many questions. It is like a teacher, a tuition teacher. That is phenomenal. It understands the context, the context reasoning. It understands natural language reasoning. You do not have to be as accurate as Alexa. That is why we say it is unmatched.”

He detailed the system’s architecture: “It goes to the cloud, and it has 17 agents, and 17 agents are working in tandem. If they have to get it from the LMM, the Gemini model, then it directly gets it.”

Simple commands remain local and immediate, while contextual or knowledge-based queries draw on the cloud. “Our electric vehicle is one of the best cyber security certified. Without cybersecurity, you cannot even bring this in,” he added.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see whether the Scorpio Lifestyler remains a niche experiment or becomes another volume surprise will depend on the next six months of customer conversations.

What is already clear is that Mahindra intends to treat both the Indian opportunity and its wider global and electric ambitions with the same methodical, brand-first discipline that has underpinned its recent growth.

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Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) Director of Sales and Marketing Yogesh Mathur has exited the company after more than two decades, sources familiar with the matter have confirmed.

Mathur joined the Japanese two-wheeler major in June 2001 and rose through the ranks to become one of its longest-serving senior leaders. At the time of his departure, he held end-to-end responsibility for sales, distribution, logistics, customer service and business planning across HMSI’s network of more than 6,500 dealer and customer touchpoints nationwide. Under his oversight, the company managed annual volumes exceeding 5 million units and a turnover of approximately INR 500 billion, spanning rural, semi-urban, urban, metro, premium and electric vehicle segments

Mutsuo Usui, Director – Sales at Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, has succeeded Mathur, according to people aware of the development. The company has not issued any official statement on the leadership change.

Mathur’s career at HMSI progressed from executive roles to regional head across every geography in India, followed by stints as division head for marketing and business planning, operating head of sales and marketing, and ultimately senior-level expert. He also served on the company’s CSR Committee, Business Ethics Committee and Information Security Management System (ISMS) Committee.

As HMSI’s official spokesperson, he represented the company in national media for over five years.

At present, there are no further details on Mathur’s next move or the exact effective date of the transition were immediately available.

The move comes at a time when Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India is gearing up to unleash one of its most aggressive product launch roadmap compromising of 10 motorcycles and scooters, which includes 7 models and 3 refreshed variants.

The lineup spans internal combustion engine, electric and flex-fuel mobility, featuring models such as the ADV 160, CB 500, Rebel 300, Rebel 500, XR 300L, XR 300 Rally and QC3 EV. Production utilises local sourcing and manufacturing capabilities to support market expansion

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German automotive supplier Brose has appointed Chetan Lagu as the President of its Indian operations, effective 1 August 2026.

Lagu brings over three decades of experience in the automotive and supplier sector to the role. Prior to joining Brose, he served as Country Manager for Adient in India, a position he held from May 2019. His previous career history includes positions at American Axle & Manufacturing and over a decade of tenure at SKF Group, where he held roles including General Manager of the Car Chassis Business Unit in India.

In his new role, Lagu will oversee the execution of Brose's strategy in India, manage market expansion and direct regional business operations. He succeeds Vasanth Kamath, who served as the head of Brose India from June 2019.

‘India is an important growth market for our company. In his new role, he will drive the execution of our India strategy, strengthen our market presence, and support the continued development of our business in the region. We welcome him to the Brose team and wish him every success in his new role. We look forward to working together and driving the next chapter of growth in India,’ said the company in a statement.

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The automotive industry in India continues to reap the benefits of the revised GST 2.0, new product launches and positive consumer sentiment to drive sales growth in the country.

As per the latest wholesale data shared by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), a total of 2.47 million vehicles were sold in July 2026, marking a 25 percent YoY growth, as compared to 1.97 million units sold a year ago. Interestingly, even compared to the previous month, the industry wholesales grew by 7 percent YoY.

In segment-wise performance, passenger vehicle sales grew by 34 percent YoY to 457,810 units, registering double-digit growth across categories.

Three-wheeler sales at 92,560 units were 33 percent higher YoY, as compared to 69,403 units sold a year ago.

Two-wheeler sales at 1.92 million units managed a 23 percent uptick, as compared to 1.56 million units sold last year.

Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM, said, “India’s auto industry delivered its strongest-ever July sales, with robust double-digit growth across Passenger Vehicles, Three Wheelers and Two Wheelers. Passenger Vehicle sales rose 34.3 percent to 458,000 units, Three-Wheeler sales grew 33.4 percent to 93,000 units and two-wheeler sales increased 22.6 percent to 1.92 units compared with July 2025. This positive momentum, sustained over several months, has continued as the industry enters the festive season with expectations of strong consumer sentiment.”

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