Big Auto charts out revival route in hard local market

Foreign firms rush to bring in new models as rivals raise share in slowing market

- Ayaan Kartik

Several struggling foreign car manufacturers in India are working to revive their local businesses with new launches, after seeing sales either stagnate or decline consistently over the past three financial years, and well into the current fiscal as well.

Global brands in India's mass market such as Skoda-Volks-wagen, Honda Cars India, Renault and Nissan have committed to introduce more than a dozen new products cumulatively in the next two years to gain market share, according to company executives and announcements. Together, the four have only 5% share of the passenger vehicle market in India as of August 2025. The challenge: A slow-moving market, where passenger vehicle sales grew just 2% in FY25, and fell by 2.4% in April-August 2025.

The move from the struggling group comes even as the top six brands-Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra and Mahindra, Kia Motors, and Toyota Kirloskar-consolidate market share. In FY25, these six cornered 91% share of India's PV sales, up from 89% in FY23, while all the foreign laggards saw their sales decline.

Puneet Gupta, director at S&P Global Mobility, said new offerings by the top six brands have won the trust of Indian consumers, something that the stragglers are not able to do. "Most of the foreign brands are struggling to find brand traction to get consumers to move towards their models," Gupta said.

To be sure, the struggling carmakers are still putting their bets on the Indian market and are hopeful about turning around their prospects.