India February 2023: Record market up 10.4%, 6 Maruti Suzukis in Top 6, Toyota up 74.6%

The Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara breaks its volume record. Picture autocarindia.com

New wholesales in India climb 10.4% year-on-year in February to 334,245 units, a new record for the month eclipsing the 308,593 units of February 2021. The year-to-date tally is now up 13.8% to 680,050, also a new record after two months. Maruti Suzuki (+10.1%) matches the market to deliver an overwhelming 44.1% share. Below, Hyundai (+6.6%), Tata (+7.2%) and Mahindra (+9.6%) are all up but remain below the market rate. In contrast Kia (+35.8%) and Toyota (+74.6%) score stellar gains and Renault (+0.7%) is back up three spots on January to #7. All other carmakers bar Citroen (+455.9%) are down, with Jeep (-29.5%), Skoda (-24.1%) and Volkswagen (-17.8%) hit the hardest.

Over in the models charts, Maruti Suzuki monopolises the Top 6 for the first time since June 2021. It places the Baleno (+47.9%) in the lead for the third time in the past 4 months just ahead of the Swift (-4.1%) and a surging Alto (+56.8%). The Alto, which was #1 in January, retains the year-to-date top spot. Leader over the Full Year 2022, the Wagon R (+15.1%) is down to #4 for the month, followed by the DZire (-3.7%) and Vitara Brezza (+70.6%). The Tata Nexon (+13.5%) is the best of the rest at #7, distancing the Maruti Suzuki Eeco (+23.5%) and Tata Punch (+16.4%) all beating the market. The Kia Sonet (+59.8%) and Hyundai Elite i20 (+59.3%) make themselves noticed below just as the new Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara breaks its volume record to just under 9,200 units.

Previous month: India January 2023: Toyota (+73.7%), Mahindra (+66.4%), Kia (+48.2%) highlight record market (+17.3%)

One year ago: India February 2022: Mahindra (+79.2%), Tata (+46.9%) can’t prevent market dip (-1.9%)

Full February 2023 Top 14 all brands and Top 70 all models below.