India March 2021: Market up 127.7% year-on-year and 10.3% on two years ago, Tata, Mahindra, MG shine

MG Gloster. MG sales are up to a record 5.538 units in India in March. Picture Autocar India.

New car wholesales in India shoot up 127.7% year-on-year in March to 320.487 as year-ago volumes were impacted by coronavirus lockdowns. More significantly, compared to two years ago in March 2019, the Indian market is actually up 10.3%. The year-to-date tally is up 42.7% year-on-year and up 10.7% on two years ato to 932.479. Maruti (+91.8% year-on-year and +0.8% on two years ago) loses share but remains firmly in control at 45.6% share. Hyundai (+100%) can’t quite match the year-on-year market growth rate but does so vs. two years ago at +18.6% Tata (+422.5% and +66.5%) is up spectacularly on both comparison sets while Kia (+122.5%) positions itself just below the market growth. Mahindra (+392%) shoots up year-on-year but remains -35.9% below its volume of two years ago. Other great performers include Renault (+278% and +73.4%), MG (+264.2%) breaking its volume record at 5.528 and Nissan (+365.5% and 220.2%) thanks to the new Magnite.

In the models ranking, the Top 5 is unchanged on February, with the Maruti Swift (+153.2%) retaining the lead and improving its share. Its four followers aren’t that lucky: the Maruti Baleno (+86%), Wagon R (+105%) and Alto (+60.7%) all advance slower than the market, as do the Hyundai Creta (+88.5%), Maruti Eeco (+93.5%), DZire (+108.8%) and Vitara Brezza (+104.5%) below. The Tata Altroz (+558.2%), Mahindra Bolero (+328.1%), Tata Nexo (+228.2%), Hyundai Elite i20 (+161.8%) and Hyundai Grand i10 (+156.7%) post strong gains below, just as the MG Hector breaks its volume record for the second month running at 4.720. As for recent launches, the Kia Sonet is down two spots on February to #16, the Renault Kiger remains at #29 with a record 3.839 sales, the Toyota Urban Cruiser is up 6 ranks to #30 and the Nissan Magnite stays at #33.

Previous month: India February 2021: Volumes up 23.1%, new Renault Kiger and Tata Safari land

One year ago: India March 2020: Covid-19 lockdown sinks market down -51.1% to lowest March in 14 years

Full March 2021 Top 15 All-brands and Top 80 All-models below.