India's largest passenger vehicle maker Maruti Suzuki has achieved a historic milestone by crossing the 2-lakh monthly domestic sales milestone for the first time, marking a significant achievement for the country's largest carmaker. The company achieved this milestone despite a high base following the previous GST rate cut, according to Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer at Maruti Suzuki. The automaker's total monthly dispatches reached 2.76 lakh units with 25% year-on-year growth, surpassing its previous record of 2.16 lakh units in May 2026. Production figures show the company manufactured 260,003 units in October 2026, a significant increase from 192,139 units in the same month last year, demonstrating robust underlying demand in the market.
Domestic passenger vehicle dispatches rose over 20% to 216,789 units, while total domestic dispatches, which include Super Carry and sales to other OEMs, grew around 19% to 226,000 units, as reported by Business Standard. The strong growth reflects robust demand in the market amid peak festival season. Recently, Maruti Suzuki indicated that its inventory levels were low, with stock of around 15-16 days in dealerships and pending bookings of around 200,000 units. Small car sales recorded healthy growth of 38% year-on-year to 40,646 units, while SUV sales touched an all-time monthly high of 73,058 units. The company reported 2.45 lakh pending bookings, while dealer inventory remained lean at just 12 days, demonstrating the company's ability to capitalize on favorable market conditions.
Sales of passenger cars, which include Alto, Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, S-Presso, Swift and WagonR, grew 18.4% year-on-year to 1.01 lakh units, according to the latest production data. Utility vehicle sales, which include Brezza, Ertiga, e Vitara, Fronx, Grand Vitara, Invicto, Jimny, Victoris and XL6, rose 26% to 97,787 units. The company also recorded sales to other OEMs of 9,459 units, against 8,915 units in the previous year, while light commercial vehicle Super Carry increased marginally to 4,229 units from 4,357 units. Utility vehicles continued to be a key growth driver, with Brezza sales reaching 24,736 units, with demand remaining strong across variants and a waiting period of around four to six weeks. The company's popular models including WagonR, Baleno, Dzire, Ertiga and Brezza contributed significantly to the strong performance.
CNG sales reached approximately 87,000 units, with CNG models accounting for 40% of sales, but supply constraints have limited the company's ability to meet demand. As per Partho Banerjee, Maruti Suzuki is working to resolve bottlenecks and plans to increase CNG capacity from January 2027, with supply limitations potentially affecting November sales. Separately, Rahul Bharti, Senior Executive Officer at Maruti Suzuki, told NDTV Profit that export figures included some shipments delayed over previous months, with the current shipping situation remaining challenging due to the worsening West Asia conflict also disrupting alternative shipping routes. Despite these logistical difficulties, the company is working to manage export operations and minimise disruptions.
Banerjee also indicated that the Indian automobile industry could cross the 5-lakh monthly sales milestone for the first time in FY27, reflecting the expanding scale of domestic passenger vehicle demand. The company's strong performance across segments, with popular models including WagonR, Baleno, Dzire, Ertiga and Brezza contributing significantly, positions Maruti Suzuki well to capitalize on the growing market opportunity. The automaker's ability to maintain low inventory levels while managing high demand through efficient production planning and supply chain optimization demonstrates its operational excellence in meeting market requirements. Maruti is expected to gain market share over the next few months, with the company's e Vitara maintaining domestic volumes around 2,000 units monthly through December due to commitments to other markets.
