The battle for the second position in India’s passenger vehicle (PV) market is intensifying between Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), with electric vehicles (EVs) emerging as an important differentiator and both automobile (auto) manufacturers scaling up production to meet demand.
Tata has maintained its lead over Mahindra for most of 2026-27 (FY27), but the gap between the two has fluctuated considerably. Mahindra briefly overtook Tata in September by just 89 vehicles before Tata regained second place in October with a lead of 8,467 units, according to data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada).
Maruti Suzuki India continues to dominate the market, while Hyundai Motor India, which traditionally occupied the second position, has slipped behind both Tata and Mahindra in recent months.
Fada data show that Maruti Suzuki led PV retail registrations during April–October, followed by Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai, and Toyota. While Hyundai retained fourth position throughout the period, Toyota held fifth place until September before being overtaken by Kia in October.
“A close race is going on between Tata and Mahindra for the No. 2 slot. This time Tata has overtaken Mahindra way ahead and has a healthy margin of around 9,000 vehicles. Last month, this was a marginal difference,” said Sai Giridhar, president of Fada.
A two-horse race for second place
The competition between Tata and Mahindra has remained close throughout the financial year. Tata led Mahindra by 2,452 registrations in April, with the gap widening to 4,233 units in May before narrowing to 2,910 in June and 2,555 in July. The difference widened to 7,596 units in August, but Mahindra edged ahead by 89 vehicles in September.
October saw Tata regain a more substantial lead. Its PV registrations rose 28.3 per cent sequentially to 73,449 units, while Mahindra’s increased 13.3 per cent to 64,982 units. Tata’s market share stood at 14.47 per cent in October, against Mahindra’s 12.8 per cent. Hyundai followed with 58,099 registrations and an 11.44 per cent share.
A spokesperson for Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles said the company had delivered consistent month-on-month growth during the financial year, supported by its portfolio and customer demand. The spokesperson said the second quarter (July-September/Q2) of FY27 was Tata’s highest-ever quarter, with sales of 201,723 units, up 40 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). In October, its total sales, including international business, crossed 75,000 cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) for the first time.
Mahindra, meanwhile, said October was a landmark month, with its highest-ever monthly domestic SUV sales of 73,338 units and overall auto sales of 131,109 vehicles, up 9 per cent Y-o-Y.
“Our primary measure of leadership is SUV revenue market share, where we continue to hold the No. 1 position. It’s at 24.3 per cent in Q2FY27,” said R Velusamy, president, automotive business, M&M.
Electric edge in Tata’s corner
EVs have played an important role in Tata’s lead over Mahindra.
During April–October, Tata registered 88,125 electric PVs (ePVs), compared with 50,322 for Mahindra, giving it an advantage of 37,803 units in the segment. Excluding EVs, however, Mahindra registered 339,113 PVs during the seven months, ahead of Tata’s 329,434 units. This indicates that Tata’s stronger EV business has been an important factor in maintaining its overall lead over Mahindra. EVs accounted for around 21.1 per cent of Tata’s PV registrations during April–October, compared with 12.9 per cent for Mahindra.
According to the Tata spokesperson, electric and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles together now account for 51 per cent of the company’s volumes. Its EV sales crossed 47,000 units in the September quarter, growing 90 per cent Y-o-Y, while CNG vehicles also recorded their highest-ever quarterly sales.
The company said it had sold more than 130,000 EVs over the past year and continued to lead the ePV market with a share exceeding 40 per cent. Its CNG volumes have crossed 200,000 units, with a 21 per cent market share in the personal segment.
Mahindra, however, has been gaining ground in EVs. Its EV registrations increased to 8,538 units in October from 7,780 in September, while Tata’s declined marginally to 14,669 units from 14,791.
The gap between the two companies in EV registrations narrowed to 6,131 units in October from 7,011 in September.
Model wars meet manufacturing muscle
The competition is also being shaped by the two companies’ expanding SUV portfolios.
Tata’s Punch and Nexon remain among its principal volume drivers, supported by the Harrier, Safari, and newer Sierra. According to the Tata spokesperson, the Punch and Nexon were among the country’s five highest-selling models during the year-to-date period, with the Punch emerging as India’s highest-selling SUV.
The company also said the Punch.ev became the first standalone electric model to cross 5,000 monthly sales in October. “To serve this growing demand, we have scaled up supply and are progressively improving product availability,” the Tata spokesperson said.
Mahindra’s demand is being driven by the XUV 7XO, XEV 9S, Thar, and Scorpio-N, according to Velusamy. He said the XEV 9S was India’s highest-selling EV in the September quarter, with sales of 13,275 units, while bookings for the BE 6 Sporteq were up 93 per cent.
“With demand ahead of output, waiting periods remain firm on key models,” Velusamy said.
Mahindra has been operating above its installed production capacity to meet demand. “We ran at over 103 per cent capacity utilisation and dispatched every vehicle we built, taking dealer stock to an all-time low of eight to nine days,” Velusamy said.
The company is also expanding capacity ahead of schedule. It exited the first half of FY27 with a monthly SUV capacity of 68,000 units and plans to add another 14,000 units by the fourth quarter (January-March/Q4), bringing capacity to 82,000 units a month.
This is expected to increase further to 92,000 units a month by the end of 2027-28 and 132,000 units by the end of 2030-31, including capacity at its proposed Nagpur facility. “This will convert our open bookings into retail deliveries and strengthen our retail market share,” Velusamy said.
Road to the next pecking order
The October rankings came against a 14.23 per cent Y-o-Y decline in overall PV retail registrations to 507,768 units. Fada chalked up the decline to the high base of October 2025, when both Navratri and Diwali fell in the same month, compared with Diwali falling in November this year.
Sequentially, however, PV registrations increased 18.86 per cent, reflecting the build-up in festival demand.
Tata said festival retail growth had exceeded 20 per cent since Ganesh Chaturthi compared with the corresponding period last year. It also reported delivering more than 20,000 vehicles on Dhanteras and the following day.
Mahindra said it was the fastest-growing brand in Vahan festival registrations, with strong bookings across its SUV portfolio.
For April–October, overall industry PV retail registrations grew 16.41 per cent to 3.07 million units.
With both Tata and Mahindra expanding their SUV and EV portfolios, and Mahindra preparing to add substantial production capacity, competition for the second position is likely to remain intense in the coming months.
