Zooming off the shelves: Indian cars outsell Korean brands

While domestic car models have successfully upped their game and were the second most sought-after Japanese brands in 2022, they also overtook the Koreans in the same year. Ketan Thakkar has the story.

- Ketan Thakkar

Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, the homegrown car makers have emerged as strong winners post Covid-19. As figures have proven, they have found higher acceptance in 2022 than the cars and SUVs made by the Hyundai Motor Group in India.

For the first time in more than a decade and a half, Indian brands have actually outsold successful Korean models in the country.

A strong portfolio of SUVs, growing theme of "vocal for local" and superior value proposition with a core focus on safer and cleaner vehicles helped Indians inch ahead of Korean brands in a highly competitive market.

Autocar Professional learns that in the year gone by Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra combined sold a total of over 8.5-8.7 lakh vehicles. This is against 8.2-8.3 lakh vehicles of Hyundai-Kia combined.

In 2021, the sales of Indian brands trailed the Koreans by a whopping 1.5 lakh units, but a series of new launches from Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors in the last 12-18 months helped Indian brands bridge the gap and even overtake the Koreans.

Tata Motors introduced the entry SUV Punch which brought in a lot of hatchback and sedan buyers into the company adding 10,000 units a month of incremental numbers for the company, even as the electric version offered a strong tailwind to the Nexon franchise, which took it to the podium of SUVs in 2022.

At the same time of Mahindra & Mahindra's sustained product excitement post-Thar and XUV 700 launch with the addition of new Scorpio N helping the Mumbai-based SUV specialist to double its monthly volumes to about 34,000 units a month at the end of the year.