Earlier, we discussed car wholesaling (from company to dealer). In this article, we will take a look at retail sales (from dealer to consumer) last month. Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) has released vehicle retail sales data for February 2026. The industry has recorded a strong year-on-year performance, with most sectors seeing growth. FADA also noted that February 2026 was the best February ever in terms of total retail sales across all segments.
Total vehicle retail sales stood at 24,09,362 units in February 2026, registering a year-on-year growth of 25.62% as compared to 19,17,934 units in February 2025. However, on a month-on-month basis, sales declined by 11.50% from 27,22,558 units recorded in January 2026.
Passenger Vehicle Retail Sales February 2026
Passenger vehicle retail sales reached 3,94,768 units in February 2026, compared to 3,13,015 units in February 2025, showing a growth of 26.12% year-on-year. Growth was supported by new product launches, strong SUV demand and positive buyer sentiment in both urban and rural markets. Rural markets recorded a growth of 34.21%, while urban markets grew by 21.12% year-on-year. SUVs continued to dominate the market and contributed significantly to the growth in passenger vehicle sales.
Year-to-date (YTD) passenger vehicle retail sales stood at 42,50,900 units, up 11.82% compared to 38,01,594 units sold during the same period last year. In terms of fuel-wise breakup, petrol and ethanol vehicles have a share of 46.08%, followed by CNG/LPG at 23.45%, diesel at 18.80%, hybrid at 8.19% and electric vehicles at 3.48%.
Car Retail Sales Breakup February 2026
Maruti Suzuki retained its leading position with 39.03% market share with retail sales of 1,54,095 units in February 2026. The company recorded year-on-year growth of 28.40%, highlighting strong demand across its lineup. Tata Motors emerged as the second largest player with 56,447 units during the month, registering a strong growth of 42.90% YoY. The company went ahead of Mahindra and Hyundai in the retail ranking.
Mahindra then reported 25.62% YoY growth with 53,281 units, mainly driven by demand for its SUV portfolio. Hyundai recorded 45,615 units, a growth of 15.87% year-on-year. Toyota sold 26,392 units registering a growth of 13.35% YoY, while Kia India sold 25,031 units registering a growth of 28.50% YoY.
Among other brands, Skoda VW Group retailed 7,615 units, showing a growth of 12.37% year-on-year. Renault recorded 3,248 units, marking a 27.52% YoY growth, while Nissan recorded 1,622 units, a marginal decline of 7.16% YoY. Honda Cars India reported a 10.83% YoY decline in sales at 4,774 units, while JSW MG Motor also saw a marginal decline with sales of 4,548 units as against 4,846 units last year. New entrant Vinfast recorded 384 units during the month, while Force Motors recorded 1,415 units, showing strong growth over last year.
Luxury segment performance
In the luxury segment, Mercedes-Benz led the market with 1,371 units, registering 4.98% year-on-year growth, while BMW recorded 1,216 units, largely stable year-on-year. JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) reported 478 units, which saw a slight decline compared to 515 units last year. Meanwhile, BYD recorded 306 units, an increase of 10.07% year-on-year.
Month after month decline after strong January
Despite the strong annual performance, most automakers reported month-on-month declines in February compared to January 2026, which had recorded particularly high retail volumes. Total passenger vehicle retail sales fell 23.12% MoM from 5,13,475 units in January 2026 to 3,94,768 units in February 2026. All major brands including Maruti, Hyundai, Mahindra and Tata reported lower volumes compared to the previous month.
