Tata motors Punches at Maruti's best-seller

New Delhi: The most popular car of the country is not a Maruti any more, but a Tata. In one of the biggest reversals in Indian car industry, Tata’s ‘mini SUV’ Punch has emerged as the country’s largest-selling model, ahead of some of Maruti’s popular models like WagonR, Swift, and Brezza.

The feat was first achieved in March 2024 where Punch was ahead on total sales of 17,547 units against 16,368 units by WagonR, which was third. In March, the surprise number two was Hyundai’s SUV Creta that accounted for 16,458 units, according to numbers sourced from industry analysts.

Punch repeated the feat in April as well with 19,158 units against 17,850 units of WagonR. Maruti’s Brezza SUV was the third-largest seller in the month at 17,113 units. This perhaps is one of the rare instances where a Maruti model has not been the biggest-seller in the country. And, the fact that Punch holding on to leadership position for two straight months shows that the trend can be sustained.

The numbers display changing dynamics in Indian car industry and brings out turnaround scripted by Tata Motors over past few years where it moved up to emerge as the country’s third largest-selling car company behind Maruti and Hyundai. Models such as Punch, Nexon, Tiago and Altroz have fuelled the comeback.

There had been months in FY24 where Tata pipped Hyundai to second position and many predict the company may emerge as the second-largest seller, considering the pace at which it is launching cars and its dominance in electric vehicle space.

Punch has petrol, CNG and electric versions and its price starts from Rs 6.1 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for petrol versions and above Rs 11 lakh for electric.

However, Maruti still dominates Indian market. This is evident from the fact that in March, six out of top 10 most-selling models were from Maruti and this number was seven in April. Maruti continues to see strong traction in the retail market as it adjusts production of models in line with waiting periods for individual cars, which impacts sales of certain vehicles, say analysts.

Tata, however, is on a high, and the confidence is only growing as its models get higher acceptance in market. The company has been adding electrics to existing models, while also looking at driving in ‘born electric’ or pureplay green cars.