Top Indian Automobile Industry News & Updates - 04 April 2026,Saturday
🏢 Industry
Karnataka ends EV tax exemptions: New lifetime charges to hit all electric car buyers
The Karnataka government introduced a lifetime tax on all electric four-wheelers in the state, ending earlier exemptions. This is part of efforts to collect an additional Rs 250 crore in motor vehicle taxes this fiscal year after missing the target for the last fiscal year by Rs 1,000 crore. Earlier, the tax only applied to battery-operated vehicles costing over Rs 25 lakh.
Tata Motors PV share price in focus on Monday after JLR sales rebound in Q4 as production normalises
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles share price will be in focus on Monday after the auto major’s British luxury car subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported its wholesale and retail sales for the fourth quarter of FY26 and the full year ended 31 March 2026.
Passenger vehicle sales in India likely to moderate to 4-6% in FY27: Icra
📝 West Asia conflict will negatively impact export growth of Auto sector: Report
📝 Bengaluru vehicle count tops 1.2 crore, worsening congestion as public transport lags
📝 India auto wholesales jump in March; PVs, tractors lead the charge
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🚗 ICE Car/SUV
Only sedan from Maruti Suzuki, Dzire tops India’s passenger vehicles sales in FY26
Despite the dominating market shift towards Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), Maruti Suzuki’s Dzire sedan reclaimed the throne as India’s best-selling passenger vehicle for the 2025-26 fiscal year (FY26). The Dzire led the pack with approximately 2.30 lakh units sold, proving that the sedan segment still holds significant weight in the Indian market. Tata Nexon was at the second place, selling 2.16 lakh units, Hyundai Creta at 2.02 lakh units, Maruti Ertiga at 1.99 lakh units and Swift at 1.85 lakh units as the top five most selling vehicles in the country.
Maruti Suzuki India aims for 8,000 service touchpoints by FY31: MD & CEO
📝 Volkswagen India to unveil Taigun facelift on April 9
📝 Mahindra SUVs to get expensive from this date: Here’s by how much
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🚗 Luxury
📝 Range Rover Velar Autobiography review: All the ‘Range’ you ever need
📝 2026 Mercedes-Benz GLS out now
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⛟ Commercial Vehicles
EKA Mobility builds capacity ahead of demand
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🎤 Interviews & Features
The OG returns: Renault Duster
When the Renault Duster arrived in July 2012, it did something straightforward but consequential. It put a properly capable monocoque SUV in a price bracket that hadn’t seen one before. Buyers responded immediately — nearly 40,000 units were sold in its first year and 100,000 units by 2014. More importantly, it showed the rest of the industry that the appetite for an accessible C-segment SUV in India was very real. Hyundai, for one, was paying close attention; its Creta arrived in 2015 and has dominated the segment ever since.
📝 Cruising & Cozying: Jaipur’s quiet heart: The soul of the city, outside the city
📝 5 things you should know before buying Maruti Suzuki Invicto
📝 Geopolitical shifts: Why must Indian OEMs pivot towards e-2W exports?
📝 New Burgman Street: Can Suzuki gain volumes in 2W market in India?
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🏗 Construction & Agriculture
After double-digit growth in FY26, tractor sales growth likely to slow down to 0-3% in FY27
New Delhi: Tractor sales surged sharply in the financial year 2026, with major OEMs posting double-digit volume growth. This growth momentum, however, may hit a roadblock as analysts forecast FY27 growth slowing to 0-3% amid high base effects and emerging El Niño risks.
📝 Sonalika Tractors posts record sales of 1.8 lakh units in FY26
📝 Escorts Kubota to hike tractor prices from April 15; Q4 sales grew
📝 TAFE tractor sales rise 23 pc to 2,14,951 units in FY26
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🏍 EV/ICE Two Wheelers
Ducati Superleggera V4 Centenario unveiled
The latest iteration of the Panigale blurs the lines between a competition bike and a road-legal superbike like we’ve never seen before. A carbon fibre frame, swingarm, wheels and even the front fork’s outer tubes. It’s also the first road bike to sport carbon-ceramic disc brakes. With a 1103 cc V4 powerhouse putting 225 bhp (246 bhp in race config) and a kerb weight of just 167 kg, this is one of the most extreme road-legal bikes till date. And just 500 units are to be made, which seals its exclusivity.
EC to like: Yamaha EC-06
The average EV scooter of today can do everything short of launching a space shuttle. Somehow, the honest-to-goodness narrative once attached to the scooter, once seen as the last word in two-wheel convenience and nothing more, has almost been forgotten. The Yamaha EC-06 is refreshingly different.
RE Guerrilla 450 Apex launched at ₹2.49 lakh
Royal Enfield’s neo-retro roadster gets an update in the form of a new variant. In the Apex trim, the Guerrilla 450 features a lowered aluminium handlebar, road-focused Vredestein Centauro Source Credit: PTI, The Economic Times tyres and two new ride modes — Street and Sport. Further, there are a couple of visual changes like a rear-seat cowl and a small fairing over the headlight. There are no changes to the 452 cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine or the suspension and brakes. The standard model also features updated ride modes and improved CEAT tyres.
Bajaj Auto's total sales rise 20% YoY to 4.45 lakh units in Mar'26
Bajaj Auto reported a 20% increase in total auto sales to 4.45 lakh units in March 2026, compared with 3.69 lakh units sold in March 2025.
Rural demand revs up 2W sales
Mumbai: The two-wheeler industry ended March 2026 on a robust note, capping FY26 with broad-based growth powered by GST 2.0 rate cuts, a revival in rural demand, premiumisation and accelerating electric vehicle (EV) adoption.
Hero springs a surprise, emerges as top gainer in e2W market share
West Asia conflict: Bajaj Auto, Ather Energy raise prices as costs jump
Ola Electric receives PLI certification for Roadster X+ 4.5 kWh e-bike
📝 Bajaj struggles to keep pace with TVS in e2W race
📝 Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 sets new benchmark with record global sales growth
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🌇 Allied Industries
📝 Ceat signs Yashasvi Jaiswal as brand ambassador under multi-year partnership
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🌢 Fuels, Lubricants
Oil prices surge while Asian share prices rise moderately
Oil prices continued to surge on worries of a prolonged Iran war, but the Asian markets that were open Friday (April 3, 2026) rose moderately in cautious trading, while others were closed for the Good Friday holidays.
OMCs raise red flag over viability of flex fuels, pricing structure
Russia offers to boost crude oil, LNG supplies to India amid energy crunch
📝 India’s Russian oil buys jump 90% in March
📝 Tanker U-turn: Ship carrying Iranian crude bound for India says it’s heading to China
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EV Charging
📝 NCRTC sets up largest EV charging station at Anand Vihar station on Namo Bharat corridor
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🌍 Emissions/Environment
Winter pollution plan: Only BS VI, CNG or electric goods vehicles in city; decongesting 62 hotspots
Gupta announced the plan after convening a high-level meeting with the Cabinet ministers and senior officials. She said the initiative builds on the government’s “historic” Green Budget for 2026-27 and aims to translate clean air goals into measurable outcomes. The plan lays out a structured roadmap for sustainable urban development, with a strong emphasis on accountability, technology and time-bound execution, she added.
CAQM holds off on Grap curbs despite Delhi AQI slipping to poor category
📝 33 possible air pollution solutions progress to trial phase under challenge set by Delhi govt
📝 Delhi bans entry of non-Delhi BS-III goods vehicles from Nov 1; Check what it means
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📖 Magazines
📝 Volkswagen teases Taigun facelift ahead of April 9 launch
📝 Ford GT Mk IV is the fastest pure-petrol car at Nurburgring
📝 Hyundai teases new Earth and Venus concepts
📝 Tesla Model S and Model X production ends
📝 Mahindra announces price hike of up to 2.5 percent
📝 Bajaj Pulsar NS 125 price and variants explained
📝 Tata Safari EV planned for launch in festive season 2026
📝 Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Apex vs Guerrilla 450 Differences Explained
📝 4 reasons to buy the Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Apex and 2 to skip it
📝 Honda Shine 100 price and variants explained
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📰 International
Hyundai Motor flags export disruptions as West Asia conflict hits shipping
Pyeongtaek, South Korea: Hyundai Motor said on Friday that exports to Europe and North Africa, which typically transit through West Asia, were being disrupted by the conflict in the region, underscoring growing strains on global supply chains.
📝 New Zealand electric vehicle sales soar during petrol price pinch
📝 Tesla eyes Japan's top imported-car spot as it expands store, service network
📝 Trump imposes 50% tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper
📝 Kia to sell lower-priced electric vehicle in US
📝 Fuel crisis powers surge in EV interest in Asia-Pacific region
📝 Rivian beats quarterly delivery estimates as EV demand stabilizes
📝 Hyundai Motor reports March South Korea EV sales up 38% from a year ago
📝 Stellantis union wary of possible China deal for shuttered Canada plant
📝 US first-quarter auto sales expected to slip on affordability concerns
📝 Ford first-quarter US auto sales fall as affordability concerns weigh on demand
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