India’s passenger-vehicle registrations approached five lakh in October, while two-wheelers crossed 23 lakh, as festive demand around Dussehra and ahead of Diwali lifted automobile purchases. Yet electric-vehicle penetration declined in both segments, even as electric two-wheelers reached their 2026 monthly peak and electric cars fell amid supply constraints at market leader Tata Motors.
VAHAN data, as seen by businessline, showed passenger-vehicle registrations across 14 manufacturers rising 15.1 per cent to 4,98,208 from 4,32,802 in September. Two-wheeler registrations jumped 28.7 per cent to 23,20,139.
Passenger EV penetration in the tracked market slipped to 7.18 per cent from 8.61 per cent, while electric two-wheeler penetration declined to 9.65 per cent from 11.58 per cent.
Cars: Tata reclaims second place
Maruti Suzuki’s registrations rose 22.3 per cent to 2,11,444, accounting for nearly 59 per cent of incremental passenger-vehicle registrations.
Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki, said retail demand remained strong, with dealership inventory at just 12 days ahead of Diwali.
Tata Motors increased registrations 24.3 per cent to 73,002, reclaiming second place from Mahindra & Mahindra, which grew 7.6 per cent to 64,248.
Electric passenger-vehicle registrations declined 4 per cent to 35,777 from 37,284. Tata’s EV registrations fell 7.1 per cent to 14,552, while Vinfast declined 22.4 per cent to 2,565.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Managing Director and CEO Shailesh Chandra said EV bookings had tripled since February and supplies could take another two to three months to catch up.
Mahindra’s EV registrations increased 3.4 per cent to 8,472, while JSW MG Motor grew 6.5 per cent to 5,877.
Honda led October two-wheeler registrations for the fourth consecutive month, growing 35.2 per cent to 6,37,295 units against Hero MotoCorp’s 5,98,523, up 37.3 per cent.
Hero retained its January–October lead, but Honda narrowed the cumulative gap to 93,803 units from 2,32,416 at June-end, intensifying the contest for market leadership.
TVS grew 24.9 per cent to 4,58,266, while Bajaj rose 25.3 per cent to 2,09,441.
Electric two-wheeler registrations reached 2,23,886, up 7.3 per cent, but penetration fell as conventional two-wheelers grew 31.5 per cent.
TVS retained electric leadership for the tenth consecutive month at 60,433 registrations, ahead of Bajaj’s 49,068. Ather registered 31,795, followed by Hero at 29,936, while Ola declined 10.1 per cent to 12,096.
Automobile industry analyst Aveek Chattopadhyay attributed the festive surge to pent-up demand but cautioned that November growth could moderate amid fewer working days and uneven rural demand.
Published on November 1, 2026
