Festive demand meets inventory wall

India's top five automakers, controlling 85% of the market, face tight stocks despite strong bookings heading into the October-November festive period.

Maruti's massive booking backlog

Market leader Maruti Suzuki has over 200,000 pending bookings but only 16 days of network inventory, compared to the typical one month of stock during festive season.

“At the beginning of this financial year, we had 13 days of stock. Even now we are having 16 days of network stock, and our pending booking is now more than 200,000.”

Production bottleneck until December

Maruti's new automated production lines won't stabilize fully until December, limiting its ability to build inventory during the critical October-November window.

Industry expects modest growth

Automakers predict low single-digit growth for the festive season as supply constraints prevent them from meeting the surge in demand.

“To be able to unlock the full potential of the festive season, we need to build inventory which seems to be a challenge this year.”

Calendar spread complicates comparisons

This year's festivals are spread across August through November, unlike last year when Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali clustered in October, making year-on-year growth harder to assess.

Hyundai ramps up production

Hyundai Motor India is advancing a third shift at its Talegaon plant ahead of launching a midsize SUV next month, with four to five weeks of inventory heading into the season.

EV supply crunch intensifies

Battery electric vehicles face even sharper supply constraints after the Iran-US conflict drove up oil prices, spurring demand for EVs.

Last year's high base dampens growth

A GST rate cut in September 2025 created an unusually high sales base last year, making year-on-year growth comparisons difficult this festive season.