As the first half of 2025 ends, car dealers across India are rushing to clear unsold inventory of vehicles manufactured in 2024.
With stock piling up and demand remaining weak, many brands are offering big discounts to attract buyers.
In fact, even some 2025 models are being sold at reduced prices, making it harder to sell older models.
₹5,500 Crore Worth of Unsold Cars
Dealers and manufacturers estimate that around 50,000 vehicles from 2024 are still unsold. These unsold cars are worth nearly ₹5,500 crore.
Most of these are premium or slow-moving models, including both electric and petrol/diesel cars. In total, carmakers have nearly 6 lakh cars in stock, equal to two months’ sales, with 6–10% of that being older 2024 models.
Massive Discounts Across Top Brands
To solve this inventory issue, companies are offering deep discounts:
Hyundai: Up to ₹4 lakh off on the electric Ioniq 5
Volkswagen: ₹2.05 lakh off on the Taigun Sport
Tata Motors: Discounts between ₹70,000 and ₹1 lakh on the Tiago EV, Punch EV, and Curvv EV
Mahindra: Up to ₹4.1 lakh off on models like Scorpio N, XUV3XO, XUV700, and XUV400
Other brands: Renault, Nissan, Jeep, Citroën, and Skoda are offering ₹1 lakh or more off on cars like Triber, Kiger, Meridian, Basalt, and Kushaq
Dealers Blame Poor Planning by Carmakers
According to CS Vigneshwar from FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations), dealers are being forced to take unwanted stock, often in unpopular colours or variants.
He also mentioned that many 2024 models are still being shipped well into 2025, showing poor production planning.
A dealer from South India added that customer interest is low, and the number of actual purchases is much lower than the number of inquiries.
Experts say that June sales could fall for brands like Hyundai, Tata Motors, and Maruti Suzuki due to the weak demand.
Supply Chain Worries May Be Temporary
Despite slow sales, dealers are hesitant to stock up heavily because of ongoing supply chain issues—especially shortages of parts like permanent magnets used in electric vehicles.
However, many believe these issues may be resolved soon and are trying to avoid getting stuck with more unsold inventory.
Overall, the auto industry is facing a tough time, as excess stock and poor demand are putting pressure on both manufacturers and dealers.
