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Maruti Suzuki expects to export more than 4,00,000 vehicles in FY26, or 20.3% higher than last year, even as domestic demand revives on the back of GST 2.0.
Updated on: Nov 3, 2025 12:56 PM IST
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Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. expects small-car sales to grow faster than SUVs after India's biggest indirect tax reform since 2017 reduced the GST rate on small cars to 18% and increased those for SUVs to 40%.
“The retail sales of vehicles in the 18% GST category are likely to grow faster than those in the 40% category,” R.C. Bhargava, chairman of India's largest carmaker, said in a post-earnings media scrum on Friday (31 October 2025), About 70% of the company's production falls in the lower tax bracket, he said.
On Saturday, Maruti Suzuki reported wholesales that grew 10.48% year-on-year to 1,76,318 units in October 2025—the first full month of sales since the GST rationalisation kicked in on 22 September. That, however, may not show the full picture as customers stalled car-buying decisions after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the GST reforms on 15 August. That resulted in an inventory buildup at dealerships between 15 August and 22 September.
A better metric would be retail car sales—calculated on the basis of vehicle registrations on the government's VAHAN website.
According to VAHAN data, Maruti Suzuki's sales jumped 94.17% month-on-month to 2,38,511 units in October 2025. Annually, they were up 17.37%. A still clearer picture would emerge when the Federation of Indian Automobile Dealers releases its own retail-sales data, as vehicle registrations tend to reflect on the VAHAN website with a lag.
To be sure, India's wider car industry had been grappling with weak domestic demand, mirroring an industry-wide slowdown that has led to single-digit profit growth for five straight quarters for Maruti Suzuki.
Maruti Suzuki Q2 Results FY26
Standalone net profit of the Fronx maker rose 7.29% over the year-ago period to ₹3,293.1 crore in the three months ended 30 September 2025, on the back of revenue that increased 13.16% year-on-year to ₹42,100.80 crore. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated the topline at ₹39,930 crore and the bottom line at ₹3,571 crore.
- Revenue up 13.16% at ₹42,100.80 crore (Estimate: ₹39,930 crore)
- EBITDA up 0.39% at ₹4,434.1 crore (Estimate: ₹4,229.8 crore)
- EBITDA margin down 134 basis points at 10.53% (Estimate: 10.6%)
- Net profit up 7.29% at ₹3,293.1 crore (Estimate: ₹3,571 crore)
One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Domestic sales dropped 4.8% in the first half of the fiscal that began in April, including an 11.5% dip in the September quarter and small car sales falling 4.3%. Exports, however, surged 42.2% to 110,487 units.
“The export business is going to be a major part of our operations and is contributing significantly to profitability,” Bhargava said, adding that Maruti Suzuki expects to export more than 4,00,000 vehicles in FY26, or 20.3% higher than last year.
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