GST rate cuts has helped reduce car prices by roughly 8-9% but companies have taken the baton and shown higher cuts in small car space. Prices of entry level cars increased by over 50% due to transition to BS6 which made them unaffordable. This led to a flat growth between FY20-FY25. Maruti bore the brunt of flat sales in this segment.

The segment is expected to see a revival. Speaking to NDTV Profit, Partho Banerjee, Executive Director at Maruti Suzuki said the company is seeing 18,000 bookings a day and strong demand in small car segment.

Tata Motors is expected to show the highest growth and a first sign of growth revival post a lean FY26 till date. New launches like Harrier, refresh of Altroz are yet to show growth. M&M will likely get back to double-digit growth post the blip last month.