Bigger wheels and fewer spares: Indian car tyres are changing

Two changes are reshaping the tyres on Indian cars. The first is size. Utility vehicles made up about 68% of domestic passenger vehicle sales in July to September 2026, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), and tyre makers are launching ranges aimed squarely at 16-inch and larger wheels. The second is the spare wheel. Since a 2020 change to the motor vehicle rules, a car fitted with a tyre repair kit and a tyre pressure monitoring system no longer has to carry one, so a tubeless tyre and a can of sealant can now do the job the spare used to do.

SUVs are now most of the market

SIAM’s figures for the July to September quarter of 2026, reported by Autocar Professional, showed domestic passenger vehicle sales up 30.7% on a year earlier at 13,60,687 units. Utility vehicles accounted for 9,19,068 of them, up 34.2%, or about 68% of the total. SIAM put the growth down to lower prices after the GST changes, a low base, financing support, rural and urban demand and infrastructure spending.

The quarter before told the same story: utility vehicles were about 68% of passenger vehicle sales from April to June 2026, up from 66% a year earlier, SIAM data showed.

Tyre makers are following the wheels

New tyre ranges launched in India this year say a lot about where the makers see demand.

• Michelin launched its first India-made car tyre, the Primacy 5, in August 2026 in sizes from 16 to 22 inches. Michelin said buyers’ move towards larger and more expensive vehicles is raising demand for tyres of 16 inches and above, the segment it is targeting.
• Yokohama launched the Geolandar X-CV for crossovers and premium SUVs the same month, in 32 sizes from 16 to 20 inches. It said this was the first time the range had been offered in a 16-inch size, specifically for India, to reach entry-level crossovers. “Today, more than 60% of the cars are contributed by crossover SUVs,” Yokohama India’s head of marketing, Gaurav Mahajan, said at the launch.
• JK Tyre told shareholders that its domestic passenger car radial mix had improved to 30%, supported by higher rim-size and differentiated products.

Even ranges aimed lower are reaching up the size chart: when Bridgestone launched its Turanza 6i comfort range in 2024, it covered 14 to 20 inches across 36 sizes, from premium hatchbacks to SUVs.

Repair kits in place of the spare

The second shift began with a rule change. In July 2020 the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways amended the Central Motor Vehicles Rules to prescribe a tyre repair kit for punctures in tubeless tyres: sealant pumped in with air closes the hole in the tread. At the same time it set a specification for tyre pressure monitoring systems on vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes. A vehicle that has both no longer needs an additional tyre, which the ministry said was in line with international practice and would free space that could be used, for example, for batteries in electric vehicles.

The rule is written around tubeless tyres: the kit is prescribed specifically for punctures in tubeless tyres.

What it means for car owners

If your car came with a kit instead of a spare, read the instructions before you need them. A kit is for punctures in the tread. It is no answer to sidewall damage such as a cut or a bulge, which Michelin says cannot be repaired, and a tyre that has been sealed should be inspected by a tyre shop afterwards. Our guide to TPMS explains the warning system that comes with it.

If you are moving up to larger wheels, the new tyre needs a load index and speed rating at least equal to the original and a similar overall diameter. Our tyre size calculator compares sizes, and the tyre size pages show the brands we track in each.