Passenger vehicle dispatches from manufacturers to dealers rose sharply by 27 per cent year-on-year in December 2025, driven by strong demand for utility vehicles, industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Tuesday.
Total passenger vehicle sales stood at 3,99,216 units during the month, compared with 3,14,934 units in December last year, marking a growth of 26.8 per cent.
The segment also delivered a strong performance in the third quarter of FY26, recording its highest-ever Q3 sales of 1.28 million units, up 20.6 per cent from the same period a year ago.
On a calendar-year basis, passenger vehicle sales touched a record 4.49 million units during January–December 2025, registering a growth of 5 per cent over the previous year, supported by robust offtake in the third quarter.
SIAM on wholesale and retail volume traction
SIAM expects steady wholesale and retail volumes traction through the last quarter of FY26.
This robust performance was supported by improved affordability following the GST rate reduction, benefits from personal income tax relief, successive repo rate cuts by RBI easing financing costs, and a renewed sense of optimism among buyers, which together helped in boosting consumer demand in this festive quarter, SIAM said.
While remaining vigilant about geopolitical developments, the industry body said it expects FY26 to close on a positive growth trajectory, with policy-led tailwinds continuing to underpin the robust performance seen in recent periods.
December also saw a strong performance beyond passenger vehicles, with two-wheeler dispatches to dealers rising 39% YoY to 1.54 million units, compared with 1.11 million units in the same month last year.
Two Wheeler sales in Jan-Dec 2025 period
For the Jan-Dec 2025 period, the Two-Wheeler segment crossed the 20-million-mark sales with 20.50 million units, with a growth of 4.9% in the calendar year, though it is still below the peak it had achieved in 2018.
Total three-wheeler sales stood at 61,924 units last month, up 17 per cent against 52,733 units in December 2024.
Performance of the Three-Wheeler segment is driven by increased economic activity, rising movement of people and goods, strengthening personal and commercial mobility needs for meeting the transportation needs in urban and semi urban areas, SIAM said.
“The reduction of GST rates made vehicles more affordable and injected fresh momentum into the sector. Growth during the year has been broad-based across segments, with Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles and Three-Wheelers recording their highest ever sales and Two-wheelers posting the 2nd highest sales ever, in a calendar-year,” Shailesh Chandra, President, SIAM said.