Alternative-fuel vehicles accounted for 40.59% of PV retails in July, just 1.09 percentage points behind petrol’s 41.68% share. A year ago, that gap stood at 13.21 percentage points, underlining how quickly the fuel mix is turning. Within the alternative-fuel basket, CNG led with 24.67%, followed by hybrid at 8.02% and EV at 7.90%.
Every category posts best-ever July
Overall, India’s auto retail sector clocked 25,91,138 units in July, up 25.89% year-on-year, though nearly flat (-0.16%) against June. FADA said this marked the first time in its record that all six vehicle categories, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles, tractors and wheeled construction equipment, posted their best-ever July performance simultaneously.
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Two-wheelers led volumes at 18,18,289 units (up 28.25% YoY), crossing the 18-lakh mark in July for the first time. Passenger vehicles rose 19.13% YoY to 4,16,555 units, also a first-time crossing of the 4-lakh mark for the month. Commercial vehicle retail climbed 24.04% YoY to 99,666 units, the category’s best July on record. Tractors surged 28.10% YoY, three-wheelers grew 16.16%, and wheeled construction equipment jumped 46.07%.
FADA Vice President Sai Giridhar said growth was “broad-based rather than mix-led,” attributing the momentum to GST 2.0-led affordability, easier retail finance and favourable festival timing against a weak July 2025 base.Dealer optimism firms considerably for August
Looking ahead to August, dealer optimism firms considerably, with 74.30% of dealers expecting growth, 22.90% anticipating a flat market and only 2.80% expecting de-growth, a sharp rise from the 51.24% who expected growth heading into July.
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FADA attributed the sentiment to the festive curtain-raiser, including Independence Day launches, Onam (August 16-26) and Raksha Bandhan (August 28), along with monsoon-fed rural cashflows.
Next three months appear decisively constructive
Overall, the next three months appear decisively constructive, FADA said, with 87.85% of dealers expecting growth over August-October, the strongest three-month reading in the survey’s recent history, up from 66.17% last month. The dealer body, however, cautioned that August-September numbers would be flattered by a low base from last year’s GST 2.0-related purchase deferrals, while October would face a high base from last year’s GST-cut-fuelled festive surge, with Diwali shifting to November this year.
FADA said India’s auto retail sector has grown 18.27% in the first four months of FY27, its strongest such start on record.
