Tata Motors Ends Maruti Suzuki's 40-Year Run As Maker Of India's Best-Selling Car

For the first time in four decades, India's best-selling car isn't a Maruti Suzuki.

The Tata Punch, a sub-compact sports utility vehicle from Tata Motors Ltd., outsold every car from the stable of India's largest carmaker in 2024, according to industry data collated by Autopunditz. Additionally, it was the only passenger vehicle to clock more than 2 lakh units last year.

Tata Punch topped the chart with 2.02 lakh sold units. Maruti Suzuki's WagonR and Ertiga were the runner-ups, with sales of around 1.9 lakh units.

"For Tata Motors, 2024 was the fourth consecutive year of highest-ever annual sales with 565,000 units sold,” Shailesh Chandra, managing director at Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, told NDTV Profit in an email. "“SUV volumes grew by 19%, with the Punch selling over 200,000 units, allowing it to emerge as the highest selling car in India in 2024."

What's noteworthy is that only one of the top five best-selling cars in 2024 was a small car and the rest were utility vehicles of various shapes and sizes. That underscores the outsized demand for oversized cars seen of late in the world's third largest automotive market. The Maruti Suzuki Alto, which was India's best-selling car for 13 straight years until 2017, sold 1,05,922 units in 2024, according to the Autopunditz data.

India's car industry has grown in tandem with the demand for larger cars.

Car sales in India have surged nearly 28% to approximately 42.9 lakh units in 2024 from approximately 33.5 lakh units in 2018 — the year Alto lost its crown as India's best-selling car. Over 50% of four-wheelers sold today are SUVs of all shapes and sizes, with the sub-four metre space emerging as the volume driver. The Tata Punch plays in this arena.

Shares of Tata Motors closed 1.83% lower at Rs 775.95 apiece on the BSE, compared to a 1.59% decline in the benchmark Sensex.