Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), a leading passenger vehicle manufacturer, has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hero FinCorp to provide tailored financial options for new and pre-owned vehicles.

Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, said “At Maruti Suzuki, we always keep our customers at the centre of all our offerings. Collaborating with Hero FinCorp builds on our ability to offer innovative, transparent, and attractive financing solutions that address ever-evolving customer needs for car finance. With this tie-up, MSIL today has over 40 retail finance partners for our customers to choose from, giving them a wide array of finance options to suit their varied needs.”

Abhimanyu Munjal, MD & CEO, Hero FinCorp, stated, “At Hero FinCorp, we’re on a mission to fuel Bharat’s aspirations. This partnership with Maruti Suzuki takes us a step further towards making car ownership easier, more accessible, and truly hassle-free for every Indian. As India trades up, our deep reach in Tier 2, Tier 3 cities, and beyond, combined with seamless digital journeys powered by proprietary tech capabilities, ensures that we continue empowering every Indian’s dream of upward mobility.”

Kia, a leading passenger vehicles manufacturer, has crossed the 200,000-unit sales milestone for the Carens SUV within 36 months of its launch.

Launched in February 2022, the Carens is a three-row MPV, available in six and seven-seat layout. It can be had in both petrol and diesel engine options. The Carens is a popular model in the MPV segment in India. The top trim of Kia Carens currently accounts for 24 percent of the model sales.

The company shared some interesting details for the Carens, which includes that the petrol variant currently accounts for 58 percent of Carens sales, 32 percent of customers opt for Automatic and iMT transmission, 28 percent variants were sold with sunroof and 95 percent of the sales came from the seven-seater variant.

Hardeep Singh Brar, Sr. VP, Sales & Marketing, Kia India, said, “The success of the Kia Carens is a testament to trust and innovation, driven by our deep understanding of the evolving needs of Indian families. With its advanced features, spacious interiors, and uncompromised safety, the Carens has redefined the family mover segment. Winning the trust of over 200,000 family and with consistent monthly sales, this milestone reflects Carens growing appeal. It motivates us to continue pushing the boundaries of excellence, delivering products that make every journey more comfortable, connected, and enjoyable”.

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), the apex body representing the automotive dealers in the country, has shared the retail sales data for February 2025, which saw the overall sales dropping 7.19 percent YoY at 1.89 million units, as compared to 2.04 million units for the same period last year.

Interestingly, the degrowth was observed across all segments, with tractors seeing the highest decline at 14.5 percent YoY, followed by passenger vehicles at 10.34 percent and commercial vehicles at 8.6 percent YoY.

C S Vigneshwar, President, FADA, stated, “February witnessed a broad-based downturn across all categories, a trend that was anticipated in our previous survey which projected a ‘Flat to De-growth’ sentiment for the month. During the month, dealers began expressing concerns about inventory being pushed to them without their consent. While such initiatives may serve broader business objectives, it is critical to align wholesale allocations with genuine demand to protect dealer viability and ensure healthy inventory management.”

The two-wheeler segment saw urban sales decline higher than its rural counterparts, which performed better on the back of positive agricultural sentiments and seasonal marriage demand.

The slowdown in demand for two-wheelers was attributed to inventory imbalances, aggressive pricing adjustments (notably post-OBD-2B), weak consumer sentiment, lower enquiry and limited finance availability. Dealers also expressed concerns about slow-moving models and external economic pressures, such as liquidity constraints and inflation, further intensifying these challenges.

Demand for entry-level passenger vehicles continued to remain low, while delayed conversion, challenging targets and excessive inventory built-up was also a factor affecting the PV segment.

“Dealers pointed to a challenging commercial environment, with weak sales in transportation sector, tightening finance norms and pricing pressures delaying customer decisions – particularly in bulk orders and institutional contracts. While robust order bookings, notably in the tipper segment driven by increased government spending and steady supplies offered some relief, the prevailing negative sentiment and structural market shifts call for a more adaptive approach. There is cautious optimism that the market will improve in March as dealers recalibrate their targets to better align with current demand,” added Vigneshwar.

Going forward, the industry body maintains a cautious optimism for March. Scepticism around impact of declining stock market, consumer confidence, reduction in discretionary spending may act as headwinds. On the other hand, year-end depreciation, multiple festivals such as Holi, Gudi Padwa and onset of Navratri may act as tailwinds.

Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), one of the leading passenger vehicle manufacturers, recently hosted a town hall meeting at its headquarters in Gurugram, India.

The event saw José Muñoz, President & CEO, Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) reaffirm the automaker's commitment for the country, along with sharing the company’s global vision for the future, including India.

“It was great spending time with the stellar HMIL team, which consistently achieves record performance. HMIL is the second largest passenger vehicle maker in India, an important and growing market. At the same time, India is the third-largest market in Hyundai’s global operations. HMIL’s IPO has helped HMC to invest and expand in new products and additional production capacity in India. HMIL has emerged as a world-class automotive manufacturing and regional export hub and is integral to Hyundai’s global vision. In 2026, HMIL will celebrate 30 successful years, fortifying Hyundai’s brand promise in the country. I am confident that HMIL will continue to set new records and benchmarks,” stated Munoz.

He elaborated that India, with its push towards sustainable mobility, is expected to play a key role in Hyundai Motor’s global ambition to sell 2 million EVs by 2030 globally.  

Furthermore, the company’s upcoming Talegaon facility in Maharashtra is expected to not only meet requirements for EVs in India, but also a global manufacturing hub.

Kia India, a leading passenger vehicle manufacturer, has flagged off what is said to be India’s first double-decker freight train to transport SUVs from Penukonda railway station in February.

The double-decker freight train will not only enable Kia India to speed up the transportation of SUVs but also enable it to cut down on its carbon footprint compared to transporting vehicles by road.

Till date, Kia India is said to have transported more than 60,000 SUVs through the rail network to various parts of the country. The double-decker freight train will enhance the capacity of transporting 264 vehicles, as compared to 100 vehicles in a traditional freight train.

Hardeep Singh Brar, Senior Vice President and Head of Sales and Marketing, Kia India said, "The launch of India’s first double-decker freight train for SUVs is a significant step in modernising the country's transportation infrastructure. With reduced transit times, the waiting period for our cars will decrease, allowing SUVs delivered to our customers faster. This innovative, efficient and eco-friendly logistics solution will help accelerate our progress toward meeting our annual growth targets, while reducing our carbon footprint and contributing to a more sustainable, cleaner and connected future."