India’s commercial-vehicle market cooled sharply in August, with registrations falling 13.6 per cent m-o-m to 81,533 units as every major goods and passenger category declined sequentially.
The year-on-year picture was markedly different. Overall CV registrations were 10.4 per cent higher than the 73,831 units recorded in August 2025, powered by medium goods vehicles, which grew 28.5 per cent, and heavy goods vehicles, up 18.7 per cent, per data from Vahan dashboard. Light goods vehicles grew at a much slower 6.3 per cent rate, while medium and heavy passenger vehicles contracted 16.3 per cent and 33.1 per cent, respectively.
The divergence also played out among manufacturers. Tata Motors emerged as the standout among the four largest CV makers, with registrations rising 12.3 per cent year-on-year to 26,113 units. Mahindra & Mahindra grew just 1.3 per cent to 20,571 units and Ashok Leyland 1.9 per cent to 15,105, while VECV slipped 1.9 per cent to 6,546.
The weakness is therefore, more than a month-on-month correction for passenger CVs: both categories also saw fewer registrations than in August 2025. In freight, by contrast, all three goods-carrier categories remained above last year despite the August sequential cooling.
Hemal Thakkar, Senior Practice Leader and Senior Director at Crisil Intelligence, said the sequential moderation followed an “exceptionally strong July” and reflected “normalisation in registration activity rather than any weakening of underlying demand”. Freight and logistics activity remained healthy, supported by sustained cargo movement, private-sector output and new-order inflows.
Broad-based cooling
Light goods vehicle registrations fell 17.2 per cent m-o-m to 45,851 units in August, accounting for roughly three-fourthsof the nearly 12,900 registrations lost by the overall CV market during the month. Heavy goods vehicles declined 12.7 per cent to 22,532 units, while medium goods vehicles fell 17.2 per cent to 4,521.
Medium passenger vehicles recorded the steepest percentage decline, dropping 33.6 per cent to 3,196 units. Heavy passenger vehicles bucked much of the broader cooling, slipping just 1.1 per cent to 2,932 units.
The correction was similarly broad among the four largest manufacturers. Tata registrations fell 17.9 per cent from July, Mahindra 16.6 per cent, Ashok Leyland 17.4 per cent and VECV 23.2 per cent, Vahan data showed.
Freight holds, passenger CVs weaken
The year-on-year comparison shows where underlying demand continues to hold. Medium goods registrations rose 28.5 per cent y-o-y to 4,521 units in August, while heavy goods vehicles increased 18.7 per cent to 22,532.
Light goods vehicles increased to 45,851 units from 43,136, but their 6.3 per cent growth was substantially slower than medium and heavy goods carriers. Combined with a 17.2 per cent month-on-month decline, that makes the industry’s largest volume category a key segment to watch.
Thakkar said growth was being “primarily driven by the goods carrier categories”. Crisil’s assessment had medium goods vehicles leading year-on-year growth, followed by heavy goods vehicles, with light goods vehicles growing more slowly.
Passenger carriers moved in the opposite direction. Heavy passenger registrations fell 33.1 per cent to 2,932 units in August from 4,381 a year earlier, while medium passenger vehicles declined 16.3 per cent to 3,196 from 3,820.
Smaller manufacturers showed a mixed year-on-year performance. Maruti Suzuki’s commercial-vehicle registrations increased 7.4 per cent and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles 6.7 per cent, while SML Mahindra declined 8.3 per cent.
August therefore leaves the CV market with a three-way divide: medium and heavy goods carriers remain strongly above last year, light goods vehicles are still growing but losing momentum, and passenger CVs are contracting. Among the largest manufacturers, Tata is growing faster than the overall market while several rivals remain nearly flat or have slipped below last year’s levels.