With half of 2025 already over, automotive dealers across India are working hard to clear unsold inventory of cars manufactured in 2024. Rising stock levels, coupled with sluggish demand, have forced companies to offer significant discounts to attract buyers. Interestingly, even newer 2025 models are being sold at discounted prices, further reducing the appeal of older stock.
Rs 5500 Crore Worth of Unsold Cars
Estimates by dealers and manufacturers suggest that around 50000 vehicles produced in 2024 remain unsold, amounting to a staggering Rs 5500 crore in value. This backlog mostly includes premium and slow-moving models, both electric and petrol/diesel, across multiple brands. In total, carmakers are holding close to 600000 units in stock—equivalent to two months of retail sales—with 6 to 10 percent of that being 2024 stock.
Massive Discounts Across Brands
To tackle the inventory issue, carmakers are offering deep discounts:
- Hyundai: Up to Rs 4 lakh off on the electric Ioniq 5
- Volkswagen: Rs 2.05 lakh discount on the Taigun Sport
- Tata Motors: Rs 70000–1 lakh off on the Tiago EV, Punch EV and Curvv EV
- Mahindra & Mahindra: Rs 55000–4.1 lakh off on Scorpio N, XUV3XO, XUV700 and XUV400
- Others: Renault, Nissan, Jeep, Citroen, and Skoda are also offering at least Rs 1 lakh off on models like Triber, Kiger, Meridian, Basalt and Kushaq
Dealers Blame OEMs for Bad Planning
According to CS Vigneshwar of FADA, many vehicles are being “dumped” on dealers due to poor demand or less popular colours and variants. He also highlighted that manufacturers often dispatch older models well into the new year, pointing to poor production planning.
A southern India-based dealer added that with muted buyer sentiment, conversion rates from enquiries to purchases are low. Analysts predict a drop in June volumes for brands like Hyundai, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki due to weak demand.
Supply Chain Impact Could Be Short-Term
Despite the sluggish market, dealers are cautious about stocking aggressively, especially given ongoing supply chain issues like shortages of permanent magnets. Most believe the supply disruptions may ease soon and are wary of being stuck with additional inventory.
The current situation reflects a challenging phase for the auto industry, where excess stock and weak demand are testing the resilience of both manufacturers and dealers.
