Auto Inc set for an over 2 million expansion spree as carmakers zero down plant plans
India’s top four automakers are scaling capacity from 5.4 million to 7.5 million units by 2030 to support a pipeline of 80 new car launches.
The country’s top carmakers—Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, and Tata Motors PV Ltd—with installed capacity of 5.4 million cars, are looking to increase their capacity by up to 39% to 7.5 million cars by 2030 as they look to cash in on one of the world's fastest-growing car markets.
The capacity expansion plans come as the top carmakers prepare to launch nearly 80 new car models over the next few years, which will include new nameplates, facelifts and model upgrades to jostle for more market share in the world’s third-largest automobile market.
On Monday, Maruti Suzuki announced the location of its new passenger vehicle plant with a capacity of up to 1 million units per annum in Khoraj, Gujarat, followed by Tata Motors managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Shailesh Chandra noting during the launch of the new Tata Punch on Tuesday that the company will expand capacity to meet the rising demand for passenger vehicles in the country.
This announcement comes months after Mahindra and Mahindra stated that it is looking to increase the capacity of its Chakan plant by 240,000 and build a new greenfield manufacturing plant after FY28.
- Top 4 carmakers to add more than 2 million units of capacity, reaching 7.5 million by 2030.
- Nearly 80 new models or upgrades are planned to hit the market this decade.
- Maruti Suzuki is consolidating Gujarat as a mega-hub with the new Khoraj plant.
- New assembly lines are being built to handle both ICE and EV models on the same platforms.
- The expansion is increasingly aimed at global markets, with Maruti and Hyundai targeting over 100 export destinations.
Hyundai Motor India recently began production at its new facility in Talegaon, Maharashtra, which has initially expanded its capacity by 170,000 which will go up to 250,000 units by 2028. With the Talegaon expansion, Hyundai Motor India’s total capacity in the country would cross 1 million units per annum.
Growth for exports
Together, the country's top four carmakers, which accounted for more than three-quarters of the total 4.4 million passenger vehicle sales in 2025, are set to see capacity additions of over 2 million.
As of 2025, the total capacity across these four carmakers was around 5.4 million, which is expected to increase to 7.5 million.
Carmakers are betting on a long-term growth strategy that will include increasing domestic penetration, rising exports and a growing number of electric vehicles, according to Vinay Piparsania, founder of Millenstrat Advisory and Research, an auto-focused consultancy.
“All the growth levers for carmakers are present in India, which is leading to the series of capacity expansion announcements," Piparsania said, adding that automakers have adapted to make their production lines flexible to accommodate different types of vehicular technologies as the market evolves.
"If India is to emerge as a true global automotive manufacturing and export hub, Indian OEMs will need to significantly raise the bar on product quality, technology maturity, and regulatory compliance to meet global standards. Competitiveness in exports will be determined not by cost alone, but by consistency, reliability, and technology depth," he said.
In 2025, the overall passenger vehicle industry recorded the highest-ever domestic sales as well as exports, which crossed 863,000, according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) data.
Car production hub
Based on the company’s disclosures, Maruti Suzuki currently has a capacity of 2.6 million units in the country, spread across four plants: Hansalpur, Gujarat, Gurugram, Haryana, Kharkhoda, Haryana and Manesar, Haryana.
While a new one million-unit plant will come up in Khoraj by FY29, the company will also increase the capacity of the Hansalpur plant from 750,000 to 1 million units by the next financial year.
The Kharkhoda plant's capacity will also be increased from 250,000 units to 500,000, with a 250,000-unit addition within this year.
The increasing capacity was part of Suzuki’s bid to make India its production hub over the next few years.
“From entry-level cars for first-time buyers to large SUVs (sport utility vehicles) and MPVs (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) for higher-income customers, we will work on a variety of products," said Toshihiro Suzuki, chairman at Suzuki Motor Corp., on the sidelines of Japan Mobility Show 2025 in October.
Maruti has announced that it will launch 8 new SUV models by 2030-31 and also double down on exports of its new electric vehicles (EVs) to more than 100 countries.
Rahul Bharti, senior executive officer, Maruti Suzuki, said that the goods and services tax (GST) cuts have boosted passenger vehicle sales, which will lead to increased efforts to add capacity. "Maruti Suzuki grew faster than the industry, and our next effort is to ensure that our capacity addition is in time to meet both domestic and export demand," he said in response to Mint's queries.
“Two of our plants of 2.5 lakh per year capacity each, one at Kharkhoda, Haryana and the second at Hansalpur, Gujarat, are under commissioning and expected to be completed within 2026." The board has approved the acquisition of land for a greenfield expansion project with a capacity of up to one million at Khoraj, Gujarat, he said.
Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor currently manufactures its cars near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, where its total capacity is 824,000, and at a plant in Talegaon, Maharashtra, which it acquired from General Motors in 2024. The acquired plant has a capacity of 170,000, scalable to 250,000.
In an interview with Mint in November, the Korean carmaker's India leadership emphasised that the company will remain aggressive, pursuing a sustainable growth path in the years to come.
“We believe in the quality of growth and the quality of sales. While volumes and market share are important, as a listed company, we also place strong emphasis on shareholder value. We want to grow in a balanced way, both in volume and in the bottom line," Tarun Garg, MD and CEO at Hyundai Motor India, said.
The Tata challenge
The addition of capacity will help growth in both the domestic and international markets, he said.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles manufactures its vehicles primarily at three facilities spread across Pune and Sanand, with a total annual capacity of 900,000 cars scalable to 1 million units. The company is also building a new plant in Ranipet, Tamil Nadu, which is expected to scale up to 250,000 units per annum over the next four to five years.
Together, the company's annual capacity is expected to surpass one million units in the next few years as it seeks to challenge for the number two position in the Indian car market. According to its investor day presentation in June, the company plans to launch 30 new cars by the end of this decade.
It has already launched Harrier EV, Sierra, and the new Punch facelift in the last six months.
Mahindra and Mahindra, now the second-largest carmaker in India, manufactures its cars at two plants in Chakan and Nashik, both in Maharashtra. Currently, the two plants together can produce more than 820,000 cars per year, which is expected to exceed 1 million units in the next two years.
During the unveiling of its new vehicular platform, the company announced that it will add 240,000 unit lines at its Chakan plant, which will make the new platform vehicles flexible for both EVs and internal combustion engine (ICE) models.
As per its disclosures in May 2025, the company planned to launch 17 new cars by 2030. It has already launched its new electric SUVs, the XEV 9S and XUV 3XO EV, along with an upgrade for the XUV700.
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