The Tata Punch is the best-selling model in India for the 2nd time in the past 3 months.

New light vehicle wholesales in India shoot up 34.7% year-on-year in August to an all time high 441,576 units, smashing the previous record for the month of 360,230 established in August 2023. The year-to-date volume is up 22.2% to 3,500,236 units, eclipsing the previous best of 2,863,378 reached just last year. August marked the beginning of India’s festive-season buying cycle, with Onam festivities in Kerala helping kick-start what is traditionally a stronger period for automobile demand. The momentum is expected to continue into September, with Janmashtami on September 4 and Ganesh Chaturthi on September 14, followed by the broader festive build-up toward the peak season. Automakers typically step up inventory, promotional campaigns and retail activity around this period, however keep in mind August 2025 was weak as buyers delayed purchase in the wake of a GST drop.

Maruti Suzuki (+34.8%) almost exactly matches its “home” market to 40.1% share, but the biggest gainers are below: Tata is up a fantastic 59.1% to 14.8% share and Mahindra is up an equally satisfying 50.4% to 13.4% of the market. Hyundai (+23.6%) is more muted in 4th place above Kia (+48.1%) delivering its third best-ever monthly volume and overtaking a struggling Toyota (-3%). MG (+14.1%) and Skoda (+13.7%) are also relatively weak but Honda (+39.9%) and Nissan (+147.5%) both surge. Off low year-ago volumes, Citroen is up 130% but only gathers 0.2% market share.

Looking at the models order, the Tata Punch (+99.3%) doubles its sales year-on-year to take the lead for the second time in the past three months, beating its monthly volume record (by 13 units) for the third consecutive time to 21,330. A significant facelift has helped and it ranks #2 YTD. The Maruti Suzuki Wagon R (+38.7%) repeats at #2 ahead of the Swift (+60.1%), Fronx (+50.8%) and Ertiga (+0.4%). The Tata Nexon (+31.6%) is up three spots on July to #6 while the Maruti Suzuki DZire (+11.6%), best-seller last month, is off six to #7 but remains the best-seller year-to-date. The Mahindra Scorpio (+58.3%) surges year-on-year to stay at #10.

Complete models data will be uploaded to this article when made available to us.

Previous month: India July 2026: Maruti Suzuki, Nissan and MG highlight record market up 33.6%

One year ago: India August 2025: Maruti Suzuki Ertiga leads, DZire now #1 year-to-date

Full August 2026 Top 14 All locally made brands and Top 10 models below.

India August 2026 – locally made brands:

PosBrandAug-26%/25Jul2026%/25PosFY251Maruti Suzuki176,97140.1%+ 34.8%11,400,15040.0%+ 22.0%112Tata65,25314.8%+ 59.1%2506,77314.5%+ 44.6%233Mahindra  59,25713.4%+ 50.4%3477,85013.7%+ 22.4%324Hyundai54,39612.3%+ 23.6%4414,55811.8%+ 10.9%445Kia29,0426.6%+ 48.1%6220,9916.3%+ 20.2%666Toyota28,4106.4%– 3.0%5244,6357.0%+ 11.2%557MG7,5081.7%+ 14.1%751,6281.5%+ 14.3%788Skoda5,6501.3%+ 13.7%950,2541.4%+ 7.6%879Honda5,3851.2%+ 39.9%845,2291.3%+ 16.6%9910Nissan3,4260.8%+ 147.5%1026,2410.7%+ 80.6%111211Renault2,8420.6%– 5.7%1131,9800.9%+ 47.9%101112Volkswagen2,2830.5%– 16.0%1221,3430.6%– 13.6%121013Citroen9270.2%+ 130.0%136,6800.2%+ 101.0%131314Jeep2260.1%+ 7.6%141,9240.1%– 11.5%1414

India August 2026 – locally made models:

PosModelAug-26/25Jul2026/24PosFY251Tata Punch21,330+ 99.3%5161,946+ 52.7%2102Maruti Suzuki Wagon R20,180+ 38.7%2144,222+ 10.4%543Maruti Suzuki Swift19,832+ 60.1%4139,117+ 16.2%664Maruti Suzuki Fronx18,730+ 50.8%6133,644+ 17.9%775Maruti Suzuki Ertiga18,516+ 0.4%3148,417+ 16.8%456Tata Nexon18,431+ 31.6%9154,068+ 35.0%337Maruti Suzuki DZire18,418+ 11.6%1168,413+ 26.1%118Hyundai Creta16,288+ 2.3%8125,785– 5.7%929Maruti Suzuki Baleno15,746+ 25.5%7130,983+ 22.9%81110Mahindra Scorpio15,576+ 58.3%10120,960+ 10.7%108

Source: Manufacturers