India's passenger vehicle market grew by 23% in 2022 compared to 2021
- The Indian automobile market for passenger cars increased by 23% in 2022 compared to 2021, after an increase of 28% in 2021 compared to 2020. We are therefore clearly witnessing here a catch-up phenomenon after the low level year of Covid which had seen car sales in India fall from 3.5 million units to 2.5 million. With a volume of 3.8 million units sold in 2022, the Indian market is returning to its growth trend observed between 2014 and 2018, and this trend should continue in the medium term, even if the year 2023 should mark a downtime (see Auto Analysis 2023-02).
- It should be noted, however, that the rate of purchase of new cars in India remains much lower than that observed in China, even though these two countries have a very comparable number of inhabitants. In 2022, the gap is around 6 between the two countries: six times fewer cars are sold in India than in China with an equal population.
- Another difference marks the two markets: the Chinese market is very electrified (27.5% of BEV and PHEV in 2022) while the Indian market is practically not.
- By carmaker, the Japanese group Suzuki remains largely the Indian market leader in 2022, with 42% market share (compared to 44% in 2021). The Korean group Hyundai-Kia is twice as small as Suzuki in this market (21% market share, compared to 22% in 2021), but is ahead of the "local" Tata Group (14% market share, compared to 11% in 2021) and Mahindra (9% market share, compared to 7% in 2021) which are progressing. Follow Toyota (4% stable) and Renault-Nissan (3% against 5% in 2021).