India April 2021: Market up 15.1% on two years ago, Maruti Wagon R in the lead

The Maruti Wagon R is the #1 vehicle in India in April. Picture carandbike.com

One year ago, the Indian new light vehicle market stopped with zero wholesales and retail sales. This time, and as the country now faces the worst infection levels of any country since the start of the pandemic, wholesales amount to 286.392, up 15.1% on two years ago in April 2019. At 1.278.871 registrations, the year-to-date tally is now up 86.5% year-on-year and up 11.7% on the same period in 2019. These are excellent scores that contrast with the country’s alarming Covid-19 situation. All the evolutions in this article are vs. April 2019. Brand leader Maruti (+3.4%) can’t match the market growth but holds a bumper 47.4% share vs. 46.4% year-to-date. Hyundai (+16.7%) edges past the market to consolidate its 2nd place ahead of Tata (+97.7%) showing explosive growth. Mahindra (-3.8%) struggles but returns to the 4th spot above Kia, which hadn’t launched here two years ago. Nissan (+471.8%) sees its wholesales multiplied by 6 thanks to the Magnite, Renault (+38.1%) is also in outstanding shape while MG drops one spot on last month to #11. All other manufacturers go against the market and drop vs. two years ago, with Datsun (-73%) and Jeep (-29.7%) the hardest hit.

In the models aisle, the Maruti Wagon R (+65%) secures its second ever monthly win after July 2019 thanks to the largest gain on two years ago in the Top 14. It topples the Maruti Swift (+16.1%) which however remains in the year-to-date lead. The Maruti Alto (-24%) edges up one spot on last month to return on the podium, overtaking the Maruti Baleno (-5.6%), with the Maruti DZire (-24.1%) ensuring the Top 5 is 100% Maruti as it is also the case year-to-date. The Hyundai Creta (+18.8%) remains the “best of the rest” in 6th place overall, distancing the Hyundai Grand i10 (+20.1%) also beating the market. The Maruti Eeco (+11.8%), Hyundai Venue and Maruti Vitara Brezza (-4.8%) round out the Top 10. Among recent launches, the Kia Sonet is back up two spots on last month to #14, the Nissan Magnite is also up two to #31, the Renault Kiger is down three to #32 and the Toyota Urban Cruiser is down 9 to #39.

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

One year ago: India April 2020: Market stops to zero wholesales and retail sales

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