India September 2021: Tata (+21.4%), Toyota (+14.4%) defy collapsing market (-36.6%)

The Tata Nexon is up to a record 4th place in India in September.

The microchip and parts shortage has finally caught up with the Indian new car market with wholesales down a devastating -36.6% year-on-year in September to just 185.636. This leads to a year-to-date tally up 54% to 2.317.132. We have accordingly downgraded our 2021 Forecast for India to 3.03m units (+25%). For the second month running, Maruti Suzuki (-57.3%) fares much worse than the market and falls to just 34% share vs. 44.2% so far this year. Hyundai (-34.2%) manages to keep its loss to just above the market rate and improves to 17.8% share vs. 17.2% year-to-date. Tata (+21.4%) goes completely against the depressed context to post a sizeable year-on-year gain and reach 13.9% share vs. 10% over the first 9 months of the year. Kia (-22.7%) and Mahindra (-12.3%) also resist relatively well in context while Toyota (+14.4%), MG (+27.7%) and Skoda (+130.7%) impress in the remainder of the Top 10. Further down, Nissan (+4556.9%), Jeep (+136.6%) and Volkswagen (+25%) also lift.

The VW Taigun has landed in India.

Over in the models ranking, the Maruti Suzuki Alto (-33.4%) scores its first win since January while the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga (+13.3%) defies the negative market evolution and climbs 14 spots on August to land in a record 2nd place overall. The Kia Seltos (+5.6%) is also up year-on-year to lodge its second ever podium finish after June 2020 at #3. The Tata Nexon (+53.3%) surges ahead to a best-ever 4th place, a ranking it also reached last May. The Hyundai Creta (-33.5%) is down one spot on August to #5 while last month’s leader the Maruti Suzuki Baleno (-58.4%) is down five ranks to #6. At #10, the Tata Altroz (-3%) scores its first Top 10 finish since May 2020 (#9), while the Toyota Innova Crysta (+15.6%), Maruti Suzuki XL6 (+79.6%) and Honda City (+23.6%) shine in the remainder of the Top 20. The Nissan Magnite (#27), Renault Kiger (#28) and Skoda Kushaq (#29) are the best-selling recent launches and we welcome the VW Taigun, a model exclusive to India based on the T-Cross and sharing the same platform as the Kushaq, at #41.

Previous month: India August 2021: Maruti Suzuki Baleno scores third ever win, market up 10.9%

One year ago: India September 2020: Kia, Tata continue to prop the market up a cool 31.4%

Full September 2021 Top 15 All-brands and Top 85 All-models below.