India rises above: Becoming the third largest auto market in the world

Delhi : India became the third-largest auto market in the world last year behind China and Japan, according to a Nikkei Asia study published on Friday. Preliminary figures indicate that India sold more new cars overall than Japan (4.20 million), at roughly 4.25 million units. While throughout the months of January through November 2022, 4.13 million new vehicles were delivered in India. At least 4.25 million new cars were sold in the nation, surpassing Japan's 4.2 million sales. The amount rises to over 4.25 million vehicles when the sales volume for December is added. Maruti Suzuki is India's largest automaker and released its sales figures on Sunday.

With the addition of upcoming commercial vehicle fourth-quarter sales numbers and upcoming year-end results from Tata Motors and other manufacturers, it is anticipated that India's sales volume will increase even more.

With 26.27 million automobiles sold, China maintained its dominance in the world auto market in 2021. Japan came in second with 4.44 million vehicles, followed by the US with 15.4 million.

In India, over 4.4 million vehicles were sold in 2018, but in 2019, sales fell to under 4 million, mostly as a result of the credit constraint that impacted the nonbank sector that year. Due to the Covid-related lockout, it further fell below the 3-million mark in 2020.

Sales did bounce back in 2021 to close to 4 million units, but growth was hampered by the lack of automotive chips.

According to Nikkei Asia, the majority of new automobiles sold in India last year were gasoline-powered, including hybrid vehicles, with electric vehicles hardly making an appearance. Automobiles marketed for the Indian market are thought to include fewer semiconductors than those bought in developed nations.

The relief from the automotive chip bottleneck in 2022 served as a launchpad for a rebound. Tata Motors and other Indian automakers experienced an increase in sales last year, joining Maruti Suzuki.