Maruti and Hyundai Lose Major Market Share To Tata and Mahindra

Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai have, for the longest time, been the two most dominant players in the Indian automotive market. In an interesting turn of events, both the automakers have lost a considerable portion of their market share from March 2020 to March 2021. Meanwhile, the biggest gainers in the same period of time have been our homegrown carmakers - Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra. In fact, Tata Motors recorded their highest ever sales in 8 years in March 2021, thus regaining the third spot on the list of top carmakers in India after 9 years.

Maruti Suzuki is the largest carmaker in India in terms of volume as well as the holder of the highest market share in the country. In March 2020, Maruti Suzuki had a 54.16% market share in the Indian market. That figure went down to 46.91% in February 2021, which then again went down to 45.61% in March 2021. So that's a 8.55% year-on-year de-growth and a 1.30% month-on-month dip. This is the biggest decrease in market share recorded by any carmaker last month as compared to March 2020. That said, out of top 10 most sold cars every month, at least 7 of them continue to be Maruti Suzuki vehicles consistently.

Also Read : Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza Outsells Hyundai Venue - Full Info

As for Hyundai , the Korean carmaker's market share dipped from 18.68% in March 2020 to 16.41% in March 2021. In February 2021, Hyundai had a market share of 16.72% in India. So by March 2021, the carmaker saw a month-on-month decrease of 0.31% while the year-on-year de-growth in market share was 2.27%. Even Hyundai's sister concern, Kia, witnessed a year-on-year decrease in market share by 0.14%, from 6.10% to 5.96%. Hyundai and Kia are keen to expand their portfolio in the coming months, which could again lead to their resurgence.

While these players have been losing market share, the biggest gainer has been Tata Motors. In March 2020, Tata Motors had a market share of just 4.03%, which increased to 9.25% by March 2021. That's a huge year-on-year growth of 5.22% in market share. And that can only be attributed to Tata's new range of cars that have been received very well by the market, particularly the likes of Altroz, Harrier and the new Safari. Tata's increased attention to safety have made them even more popular in the minds of Indian buyers who are continuously growing more aware about improved safety requirements.

The other big winner in terms of market share has been Mahindra. Mahindra's market share in India stood at just 2.40% in March 2020, which increased to 5.21% by March 2021. That's an year-on-year growth of 2.81%. Just like Tata, Mahindra's success can also be owed to new products like the Thar and new variants of the XUV300. Mahindra has two more very important launches coming up - the next-generations of the XUV500 and the Scorpio - and given the hype around them, Mahindra will surely be looking to take their market share even higher with these new products.