A jittery start in 2016 resulted in India increasing its industry by a marginal 0.8 percent. One of the reasons for the inertia was a lesser number of working days., as well as the inordinate growth experienced in December 2014 due to a variety of incentives.

Despite the less than ideal start for India, a majority of automotive companies in the country continued the impressive growth patterns from 2015. Volkswagen reported a 7.6 percent increase in sales, while local giant Mahindra & Mahindra sold more than 3000 more units compared to the same time last year.

India is widely expected to leapfrog past emerging powerhouses such as Brazil, and even established heavyweights such as Japan and Germany to become the third largest automotive market in the world.