Sector Snapshot · Automobiles

India's Automobile Market: Scale, Speed, and the Shift to EV

A fast-read primer on where the sector stands today and where it's headed — the backdrop against which we benchmark every company's cost structure in this category.

2.56 cr
Automobiles sold in India, FY25 (+7% YoY)
US$ 300 bn
Projected industry size by 2026
~6%
Share of national GDP, up from 2.77% in 1992-93
US$ 39.7 bn
Cumulative FDI inflow, Apr 2000–Dec 2025
30.7 mn
People employed, directly + indirectly

Two-Wheelers Still Rule the Road

Of every 100 vehicles sold domestically, more than three in four are two-wheelers — passenger vehicles are a distant second.

Domestic Market Share by Segment

FY26 (Apr–Dec 2025)

Two-wheelers — 77.25%
Passenger vehicles — 16.13%
Commercial vehicles — 3.66%
Three-wheelers — 2.96%

Leading Two-Wheeler OEMs

Market share, FY25

30.8%
Hero MotoCorp
25.4%
Honda
17.5%
TVS Motor
11.4%
Bajaj Auto

Exports Are Accelerating

Overseas demand for Indian-made vehicles grew faster in early FY26 than it did across all of FY25.

Automobile Exports, Q1 (units)

Q1 FY25 vs Q1 FY26 — up 22% year-on-year

11,92,566
Q1 FY25
14,57,461
Q1 FY26

What's Pushing the Sector Forward

Demand, capital, and policy are all pointing the same direction — toward faster volumes and an accelerating EV transition.

Demand & Trade
  • Rising middle-class income and a young population
  • Vehicle exports targeted to grow 5x between 2016–26
  • Exports up 19% to 5.3 million units in FY25
Investment
  • 10–25% lower operational costs vs. Europe & Latin America
  • US$ 200 bn+ EV investment potential over 5 years
  • Rs 5,940 crore allocated to the auto PLI scheme, FY27
Policy Support
  • PM E-DRIVE scheme: Rs 10,900 crore through March 2028
  • GST on EVs cut from 12% to 5%
  • India–UK trade deal cuts PV import tariffs from 100% to 10% over 10 years

Recent Developments

A sample of the industry-wide and policy moves shaping the sector through early 2026.

Companies We Benchmark in This Sector

Listed Indian Automobiles companies in tDoBe's cost-benchmarking coverage.

Maruti Suzuki
M & M
Bajaj Auto
Eicher Motors
TVS Motor Co.
Hyundai Motor India
Tata Motors PV
Hero Motocorp
Ather Energy
Force Motors
Ola Electric
Olectra Greentech
Landmark Cars
Zolo E-Mobility
Popular Vehicles
Mercury EV-Tech
Hindustan Motors
Wardwizard Innovations

The Cost Benchmark — What We Actually FoundtDoBe Think Report

The market facts above are public background. What follows is tDoBe's own work: every "Other Expenses" line from these companies' own financial records, read by hand and sorted into one clear set of categories — not a keyword search, not each company's own way of reporting it.

11.8%
tDoBe Average — Other Expenses as % of net revenue
4.4×
Gap between the highest and lowest company
11
Cost categories, sorted by meaning
2.7%
Biggest single category — Miscellaneous & Others
FY24/25
Latest available financial records

Where Companies Land — Total Other Expenses

Each mark is one company's total Other Expenses as % of net revenue. No company is named here.

11.8%
0%5%10%15%20%25%30%

tDoBe Average by Cost Category

Ranked from biggest to smallest.

Miscellaneous & Others
2.7%
Freight, Distribution & Logistics
1.6%
Advertising & Sales Promotion
1.1%
Repairs & Maintenance
0.5%
Power & Fuel/Utilities
0.5%
Total Other Expenses
11.8%
Where the Cost Really Sits

General overheads and moving vehicles from factory to dealer are the two largest cost buckets, ahead of marketing and maintenance.

Why the Range Is So Wide

This sector spans mass-market two-wheeler and passenger-vehicle makers alongside newer electric-vehicle companies still scaling up production — that mix drives most of the spread, more than any efficiency gap.

Why the Comparison Is Fair

We use each company's own standalone financial records — not group numbers, not each company's own labels. Every cost line is read by hand and placed into one common set of categories, so every company is compared the same way.

See Where Your Own Company Stands

This is the free, sector-wide view. It tells you where Automobiles stands as a whole — not where your own company stands against it, category by category, in rupees.

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$999
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A below-average number is a reason to call too — the benchmark keeps improving as we go.

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Compiled from public government and industry sources, February 2026 update · Figures rounded · tDoBe sector snapshot, for informational purposes · Cost Benchmark findings compiled from companies' own financial records, FY2024/25.