By AUTOASTRA Editorial · 6 Oct 2026 · News
India's auto retail hit a record 25.37 lakh units in September 2026, up 31.82% year on year, with five of six categories posting their best-ever September.
India's automobile retail market recorded its best-ever September in 2026, with 25,36,920 vehicles retailed during the month, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). Retail sales rose 31.82 per cent year on year and 4.69 per cent month on month, with five of the six major vehicle categories posting their highest-ever September sales. The strong month also lifted the industry to its best-ever first half of a financial year, with total retail between April and September reaching 1,55,12,319 units, up 20.77 per cent.
| Segment (Sept 2026) | Units | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Two-wheelers | 17,90,188 | +33.08% |
| Passenger vehicles | 4,27,213 | +32.10% |
| Commercial vehicles | 1,03,557 | +37.62% |
| Three-wheelers | 1,32,570 | +22.25% |
| Tractors | 76,906 | +13.75% |
| Total | 25,36,920 | +31.82% |
FADA is careful to warn against taking the 31.82 per cent figure at face value. It calls the number "the most base-distorted print of the year", because September 2025 saw buyers defer purchases in the week before GST 2.0 took effect on 22 September last year, creating an artificially low base. FADA President Sai Giridhar points to three cleaner signals: record Septembers across five of six categories, a record first half, and month-on-month growth of 4.69 per cent. Even setting the distorted September aside, the first five months of FY27 grew about 17 per cent, which FADA calls the truer underlying run-rate.
Two-wheelers did the heavy lifting with 17,90,188 units, up 33.08 per cent year on year and now 15.3 per cent above the pre-Covid September 2018 peak. Dealers attributed the surge to festive buying in the first half of the month, steady rural and semi-urban demand and a pull towards premium motorcycles. Commercial vehicles crossed the one-lakh mark in a September for the first time, at 1,03,557 units. Electric vehicles also hit an all-time monthly high of around 3.34 lakh units, taking overall EV penetration to roughly 13 per cent, with electric two-wheelers accounting for 11.58 per cent of two-wheeler retail. In passenger vehicles, petrol and alternative fuels are now effectively at parity, with petrol at 41.27 per cent against 41 per cent for CNG, hybrids and EVs combined.
Two concerns stand out. First, passenger vehicle dealer inventory has climbed to around 43-45 days, more than double FADA's recommended 21-day level, with about 60 per cent of dealers reporting higher stock ahead of the festivals. Second, and more important for buyers, FADA flags that successive price increases across the industry risk eroding the very affordability that GST 2.0 created, which it calls the single engine of this cycle.
The record numbers confirm that demand is genuinely strong, but the inventory build-up and the price-hike warning suggest the market is entering the festive season from a position of strength rather than desperation, which means discounts may stay disciplined rather than balloon. If you are buying this festive season, the data supports acting early on in-demand models, and asking dealers for a variant-specific written quote. Explore the latest sales data, compare models on our Compare page, and check more news on what is driving the market.
(Sources: FADA September 2026 retail data, The Hindu, ETAuto, India Today, The Tribune. Cover: cover-3-fada-sept-2026.jpg)
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