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In October 2024, Mahindra surpassed Tata Motors and became the Third Biggest Car Brand in India. Well, this had been anticipated for a long time, as Mahindra was showcasing the signs of this. On the other hand, Tata Motors, which has been consistently, the third biggest Car brand in India for years has also shown an unexpected downfall in its sales for the past few months, which led it to slip from its position. So, let us analyze in detail the cause of this - Is this because of Tata Motors’ downfall? Or Mahindra did what that it became the third biggest in India?

How did Tata fall off the Third spot?

Tata Motors was the leading Indian car brand with monthly sales of an average of 45,000 units in 2023 (with the most sales recorded - 48,343 units and the least sales of 42,865 units in 2023). Throughout the year, Tata Motors was ranging in between 40,000 to 50,000 units of sales. This dangling of sales numbers every month was purely caused by updates brought in various Tata cars (mostly SUVs) - Nexon, Punch, etc. Still, it was concluded to be one of the fantastic years for Tata Motors, as the brand did not really show a major downfall, rather it remained fairly constant. 

As the brand entered 2024, it gradually started to fall but, this was unnoticeable, as it was happening in very small numbers and everyone was anticipating the brand to bounce back in the next month. For example: These are the sale numbers of Tata Motors till September 2024 - 

Jan 24 - 53,635

Feb 24 - 51,270

Mar 24 - 50,105

Apr 24 - 47,885

May 24 - 46,700

Jun 24 - 43,527

July 24 - 44,727

Aug 24 - 44,142

Sept 24 - 41,313

We can clearly see that the brand started strong with 53,000 sales in the commencing month of the year - Jan 24 but, as of September 2024, Tata Motors has seen a significant downfall of more than 10,000 units, ultimately, recording a sale number of 41,000. 

Now, this downfall did not happen because Tata Motors failed to update its lineup or failed to understand the market needs. In fact, Tata Motors was one of the first brands in 2024 to update its lineup with respect to the market needs before almost everyone. Moreover, it was also one of the most innovative brands, as it launched the first CNG car with an Automatic Gearbox, the first CNG car with a Turbo Petrol engine, it launched its first Turbo GDI Petrol engine, and also launched the first Indian Midsize Coupe SUV in both Electric and ICE format. So, the report card absolutely states that Tata Motors should be on its progressive path throughout 2024 but, what really went wrong?

Well, the cause for this to happen is mainly because of two reasons - 

• Competition being consistently updated
• Tata dealers and Tata Car’s reliability ruining the brand name

Speaking of the Competition - We all know that the Tata Nexon was the SUV that changed the brand's stature in the Indian Automobile market. It is definitely not easy to be on top for more than 2 years straight. But, things went sideways with the Nexon after Jan 2024, as people started preferring its key rival - the Brezza, over it. Maruti had launched the Brezza even before the Nexon got its major facelift update still, Nexon used to outnumber the Maruti in the sub-4-meter segment. Eventually, consumers shifted to the Maruti back, as it was found to offer a better equation of space, mileage, and reliability. 

Secondly, Tata itself sort of played a major role in redirecting the potential Nexon buyers after they launched the Punch.ev. The Punch EV became a huge success, as it served the right sweet spot of a futuristic EV with a decent range, great space, and comfort for City use. Moreover, both Punch.ev and Nexon’s price-clash made the buyers think that the Punch EV is a better buy having an affordable running cost. 

Now, about the second reason- Tata dealers and Tata Car’s reliability ruining the brand name - There is no doubt in the fact that even though Tata cars/SUVs look the best in their segment, they are also the worst when it comes to their reliability quotient. Tata Motors has been dealing with this problem for a long time now, and being such a big car brand, it is disappointing that they have not solved it yet. To dive more into detail, the main victims of Tata’s bad reliability are their bigger SUVs - Harrier and Safari. Most of the serious problems have been recorded from those SUVs. On the other hand, the smaller SUVs/Cars - Nexon, Punch, Tiago, etc have not faced any big issues but, are surely bothered with a few silly ones. 

Secondly, the dealerships - This is the most annoying aspect of buying a Tata car. Yes, it is not the product itself but, the service that comes with it. Tata dealers have been repetitively found in the bad spot in every 2nd or 3rd case. At times, one is not behaving properly with the customers, or one has kept a customer waiting for a long time (than usual) to solve a silly or major problem.  

This was Tata Motors’ side of the story, and as every coin also has its second side, so does this one!

The Rise of Mahindra 

As we mentioned, Mahindra’s rise was anticipated but, to be very honest, not so early. Mahindra gave itself a sort of reboot back in 2020 when launched the new generation of the Thar. It was a massive success the very next second. The kind of aura and feel that SUV had (and still has) is purely unmatchable. Secondly, providing a pure Jeep Wrangler-like off-roading experience on a budget is something that blew and attracted everyone. 

Following this, Mahindra launched its next big success - the XUV 7OO. It got even more liked than its predecessor - the XUV 5OO. We mean, generating 60,000 bookings within an hour of launch (where no one has tested the vehicle in person) is godly. Fortunately, the SUV stood for what everyone expected it to - A True Monocoque SUV with a proper blend of off-roading and Highway Cruising. This made the XUV sort of give an American SUV-like feel, even though it was built ground up in India. Of course, after this, we have the Scorpio N and the recently dropped bomb - Thar Roxx. Even both of these products have been proven to be a great success by the House of Mahindra. 

Now, let us analyze how Mahindra has performed in 2024 till now - 

Jan 24 - 43,068

Feb 24 - 42,401

Mar 24 - 40,631

Apr 24 - 41,008

May 24 - 43,218

Jun 24 - 40,022

July 24 - 41,623

Aug 24 - 43,277

Sept 24 - 51,062

So, till September 2024, Mahindra had been running on average sale numbers of 42,000 units per month. It seemed to be amazing with respect to the fact that Mahindra sells only SUVs, unlike Tata Motors. But, when the September 2024 sale numbers popped out, it shocked everyone! Because, as you can see Mahindra has achieved two things - 

• Sold the most amount of cars in a month - 51,062 units
• Surpassed Tata Motors to become the Third Biggest Indian Car Maker for the first time

This is huge, isn’t it? For a brand that sells only SUVs to surpass a brand that sells cars starting from a mini Hatchback to an entry-level Premium 7-seater SUV, is definitely not a joke! Moreover, the most affordable Tata car is priced at 5 lakhs, and the most affordable Mahindra car or SUV is priced at 7.49 lakhs (it is the XUV 3XO - Nexon rival) - Secondly, Tata Motors having launched so many innovative products in a short period of time, and still, Mahindra managing to outrun it with a margin of over 10,000 units. This is simply insane!

Well, we could go into greater detail by studying the business model of Mahindra’s past few years but, it will not make any difference rather than making the article more complex. So, here is a simple reason for How Mahindra defeated Tata and became the Third Biggest in India - 

If, you have noticed one thing, then, all of the products that Mahindra has launched after its reboot in 2020 are purely passionate and aspirational. It, literally, seems that Mahindra has a few kids in its R&D room, who decide what should be next, and what should the next have. For example - Thar, who would have thought that this off-roader would give tough competition to all the soft-roaders (which are just better than Thar in what they do), still, Thar is one of their key competitors and God knows how! Not only this but, the Scorpio N, the Thar Roxx, the XUV 7OO, etc - have created a ruckus in their segments. In fact, if we exclude Creta, no other FWD-Monocoque SUV is able to beat these RWD-Ladder-on-frame SUVs. 

Simply, it is visible that Mahindra played with its one key power, which was also its strongest - Staying true to its History. Manufacturing only SUVs & selling them is not an easy job - Jeep finds it difficult, too. Still, Mahindra played it safe by building not practical but, aspirational valued products. Moreover, a few years ago, there was no difference between Mahindra and Tata in terms of reliability and after-sales service but, Mahindra chose to improve on every step they took. Today, a Mahindra product looks way better finished and put-together than a Tata product, and speaking of the After-sales service, it is better than that of Tata Motors. 

In fact, Tata could have done this, too. They had some great SUVs - Safari Storme, Aria, Hexa, etc. But, they rather decided to get rid of all these SUVs and not even hail the legendary history they hold. Today, the Safari Storme has more aspirational value and respect than its successor - the Tata Safari (so-called Land Rover Platform-based SUV). 

Such decisions made Tata Motors sort of restart its legacy, which had been built over the years, even though it was not firm, still, very respected. Today, Tata is trying to be a different brand under the name “Tata Motors” which itself resembles something else - something way better than what it is trying to become. 

Mahindra did the exact opposite of what Tata Motors did, and hence we have the result!

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