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India emerged as the world’s third largest passenger car producer overtaking Germany and trailing only China and Japan in 2025
The rise of India as a global automotive manufacturing powerhouse gathered further pace in 2025 with passenger car production reaching 5.4 million units. According to OICA data, India emerged as the world’s third-largest passenger car producer overtaking Germany and trailing only China and Japan. Even more significant is the growth trajectory – Indian passenger car production has expanded by 48 per cent compared to 2019.
China remained ahead of the pack with 30.3 million passenger cars produced in 2025 – up 42 per cent over 2019 levels. Meanwhile, Japan retained second position with 7.2 million units despite a 14 per cent decline during the same period. India’s 5.4 million units placed it ahead of Germany’s 4.1 million units and South Korea’s 3.8 million units.
Among the world’s five largest passenger car manufacturing nations, India recorded the highest growth – outperforming China which endured a surge of 42 per cent and South Korea at 6 per cent. The numbers become even more impressive when viewed against the backdrop of traditional automotive hubs as manufacturers continue to utilise more affordable local sourcing and manpower.
|
Rank |
Country |
Production 2025 (Million Units) |
Change Vs 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
China |
30.3 |
+42% |
|
2 |
Japan |
7.2 |
-14% |
|
3 |
India |
5.4 |
+48% |
|
4 |
Germany |
4.1 |
-11% |
|
5 |
South Korea |
3.8 |
+6% |
|
6 |
Brazil |
2.0 |
-19% |
|
7 |
Spain |
1.8 |
-20% |
|
8 |
Czechia |
1.4 |
+1% |
|
9 |
USA |
1.3 |
-49% |
|
10 |
Slovakia |
1.1 |
-3% |
|
11 |
France |
1.1 |
-36% |
|
12 |
Indonesia |
1.0 |
-6% |
|
13 |
Mexico |
0.9 |
-36% |
|
14 |
Turkey |
0.9 |
-11% |
Germany witnessed an 11 per cent decline compared to 2019 levels while Japan fell 14 per cent. The United States recorded one of the steepest drops among major markets with passenger car production shrinking 49 per cent to just 1.3 million units. France and Mexico each declined by 36 per cent while Spain dropped 20 per cent.
Several factors have contributed to India’s manufacturing expansion. Appreciable local volume sales, growing popularity of SUVs, increased localisation, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes and increasing export activities can be cited as some of the reasons to expand capacity as top players in India have certainly benefitted.
Carmakers including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Mahindra, Toyota, Kia, Honda and Renault-Nissan continue investing in local production while more new brands are vying for the spotlight as related automotive components are also being shipped to several foreign countries.
Hyundai Motor India alone has exported more than 3.9 million vehicles from Tamil Nadu while Maruti Suzuki remains one of India’s largest vehicle exporters. Growing localisation levels across powertrains, electronics and EV components should be taken into account as well. Despite the gap to Japan remains substantial at 1.8 million units, India has already built a sizeable lead over Germany.
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