On the first anniversary of GST 2.0, FADA President Mr. Sai Giridhar said the reform has fundamentally reshaped India’s auto retail landscape, with the numbers reflecting its impact. In the eleven months since GST 2.0 took effect, from October 2025 to August 2026, Indian auto retail registered over 3 crore vehicles, growing nearly 20% year-on-year, compared to under 5% growth in the comparable period before the reform.
Mr. Giridhar said the momentum has been driven primarily by affordability, as permanently lower on-road costs for small cars, commuter two-wheelers, tractors, and commercial vehicles widened the market itself, bringing first-time and long-deferred buyers back to showrooms. He noted that the strong festive season demand seen last year has not faded, but instead become the new normal.
He highlighted several structural, rather than seasonal, gains over the past year: the industry has posted its best-ever months across categories, two-wheeler sales have reclaimed a peak last seen in 2018, alternative fuels have for the first time overtaken petrol in passenger vehicles, and rural India has begun outpacing urban India across the board.
Mr. Giridhar credited the Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, for placing affordability at the heart of policy, saying this sparked a fresh cycle of consumption and lifted Indian auto retail into its next phase of growth. He acknowledged that manufacturing partners continue to absorb genuine cost pressures from global volatility in crude, commodities, and currency, but said the clearest lesson of the past year is that affordability remains the single most powerful lever of demand, and that as long as it stays in focus, India’s auto retail will continue setting new records and powering the broader India growth story, from metros to the smallest districts.
