After Mahindra beat both Hyundai and Tata Motors to emerge as the second-largest carmaker in H1FY26 as well as in FY26, Tata Motors has now toppled Mahindra to take the No. 2 position in H1FY27. Sales data sourced from the industry shows that Tata sold 376,840 cars in H1FY27, almost 20,000 units more than Mahindra’s 358,142 units. But just six months ago, Mahindra had a comfortable lead over Tata.
In FY26, Mahindra sold 660,276 units, almost 10,000 more than Tata’s 651,261 units. Even a year ago, Mahindra was the leader – in H1FY26, Mahindra (297,570 units) had a substantial lead over Tata (273,688 units).
Automotive analysts told FE that new launches in the mass-market segment gave Tata the much-needed push. “Tata launched the Punch ICE facelift in January, followed by the Punch EV facelift in February, and then the new Tiago ICE and EV in May,” an analyst said. “These sub-4-metre cars priced under Rs 10 lakh gave Tata’s sales a boost, at a time when GST 2.0 was already turning customers towards small SUVs.
Month-on-month sales prove that. In April, Tata sold 59,000 cars, then in May 59,090 cars, June (62,076), July (62,611), August (65,253), and September (68,810). In contrast, Mahindra, which didn’t have an all-new product barring the electric XEV 9S and the XUV 7XO – both at the upper end with on-road prices of most variant upwards of Rs 20 lakh – had a slower sales uptick. In April, it sold 56,331 units, May (58,021), June (60,393), July (60,048), August (59,257), and September (64,092 units).”
He added that while Mahindra has built an envious presence in midsize and large SUVs, Tata has silently developed a high-volume floor with small cars across multiple powertrains – petrol, diesel, CNG, and EV. “When entry-level demand revived due to GST 2.0, Tata was positioned to capture that volume immediately with its sub-4-metre SUVs,” he said.
To sustain the momentum in H2FY27, Tata introduced the Aeris sedan in September. Positioned as an accessible, high-tech sedan, the Aeris could give Tata additional growth across the festive season and full FY27 tally.
But Tata suffers from big car bottleneck. The much-hyped Sierra, for example, has been averaging 7,000 units per month, which while a decent number in isolation, is much lower than the 9,000 units per month of the XUV 7XO, almost 11,000 per month of the Kia Seltos, and close to 16,000 per month of the Hyundai Creta.
At the same time, Tata’s No. 2 position isn’t certain. Sources told FE that Mahindra is preparing a major product blitz in H2FY27 and early FY28. While official announcements are under wraps, sources said that Mahindra has at least three fresh product unveilings scheduled over the coming months.
Hyundai, which lost its second position to Tata and Mahindra recently, is gearing up to introduce the Bayon in India. If the Bayon – a shade smaller than the Creta – hits the sweet spot in pricing and packaging, Hyundai could easily take back sales from both Tata and Mahindra.
Although for now Tata Motors is at the second position, in the uncertain Indian car market, the race for the second place remains wide open.
