Festive car demand: Maruti retail up 35%, but FADA says Navratri sales fell 22%
28 October 2026 · 2 min read · HireHo
Based on a Business Today report dated 21 October 2026, summarised in HireHo's own words. Summarised in our own words.
+35%Maruti retail, Ganesh Chaturthi to Dussehra
2.7 lakhMaruti pending bookings after Dussehra
+30%Hyundai registrations (about 41,000)
-22%FADA passenger vehicle retail in Navratri
Car makers report strong festive demand, while the dealers' body FADA shows a fall for the Navratri period. Both can be true, because of how last year's festival fell.
What the companies reported
- Maruti Suzuki: retail sales grew 35% year on year between Ganesh Chaturthi and Dussehra. Small-car retail rose about 16% and SUV retail roughly doubled. Pending bookings rose from about 2 lakh at the start of October to 2.7 lakh after Dussehra.
- Hyundai Motor India: registrations rose 30% during Shradh and Navratri, to nearly 41,000 units.
- Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles: delivered over 50,000 vehicles during Navratri, including more than 10,000 on Dussehra alone.
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What FADA reported
FADA says passenger vehicle retail fell 22% year on year to 1,82,728 units during the 10-day Navratri period. It calls the drop largely optical, because Navratri 2025 lasted 11 days and coincided with the GST 2.0 rollout, which made last year's base high.
What this means for you
- Pending bookings mean showrooms and delivery teams stay busy till Diwali.
- Sales, delivery coordination, driver and workshop roles are likely to stay in demand through the festive weeks.
- Compare company figures with FADA data before drawing conclusions. Companies often report their own numbers over different date ranges.
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SourcesBusiness Today: Maruti, Hyundai, Tata on festive ride as Diwali bookings boomHireHo explains these reports in its own words. Figures belong to the sources above.
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