Leading automakers are ramping up production volumes and building inventory at dealerships to meet high consumer demand during the peak festive season in India. Manufacturers aim to ensure sufficient vehicle availability and convert existing orders into actual sales.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki India has 220,000 outstanding orders before the holidays, while Hyundai Motor India has secured a four-to-five-week stock in its dealer network. Meanwhile, Mahindra & Mahindra has increased its production capacity for passenger and electric vehicles to 68,000 units monthly to improve supply and reduce waiting times.
Parth Baanjore, Senior Executive Director of Maruti Suzuki India, told PTI that the company had a 12-day stock at the beginning of the current fiscal year. Currently, with 220,000 pending orders, the stock is 16 days until the festive season. He added that two new production lines have been commissioned, increasing total capacity by 500,000 units. Production is gradually scaling up, and these lines are expected to be fully stabilized by the end of the year.
Baanjore noted that the company is calibrating production and deliveries across various models to prevent disproportionate increases in waiting times for specific vehicles during the festive period. He also mentioned that despite the efforts of the supply chain and manufacturing teams at Maruti Suzuki to meet festive demand, special programs may be introduced for customers with pending orders due to supply constraints.
Tarun Garg, Managing Director and CEO of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, stated that the festive season remains a key growth driver for the Indian automotive industry. He emphasized that the company proactively prepared its operations, dealership network, and supply chain to effectively serve demand across the country. Garg added that dealer stock readiness has been strengthened, logistics optimized, and product availability enhanced across the Hyundai Motor India Limited network in recent months to ensure timely delivery and a seamless customer experience.
Garg specified that Hyundai Motor India Ltd has pre-built dealer inventories, reaching a level of 4-5 weeks across the network, to effectively manage anticipated festive demand. The company is focused on balancing the fulfillment of existing customer orders with ensuring adequate stock levels at dealerships to maximize retail sales during the festive period.
Nalinikant Gollagunta, CEO of the Automotive Division of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., stated that demand remains high across the entire portfolio. He reported that in the first half of the year, the company increased its production capacity for SUVs and EVs to 68,000 units per month to meet growing demand. This has significantly helped improve supply responsiveness and reduce waiting times across the portfolio, even with healthy order levels maintained.
Gollagunta expressed confidence that thanks to positive consumer sentiment, portfolio freshness, and supply-side improvements, Mahindra will successfully convert strong festive demand into retail sales and ensure a successful festive season for Mahindra and the industry as a whole. The festive season is a critical period for the Indian passenger vehicle industry, where manufacturers and dealers strive to maximize deliveries during the period encompassing Navratri, Dussehra, Dhanteras, and Diwali. As manufacturers intensify production and build stocks, the focus during this festive season is increasingly shifting towards ensuring supply meets demand, and that vehicles are available to customers when they are ready to purchase.