Auto Stocks To Buy: Citi calls Maruti Suzuki its top pick, raises targets for M&M, Hyundai too

Brokerage firm Citi has raised its price targets on automobile giants Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and Hyundai Motor India Ltd. on Friday, September 12, in anticipation of the industry growing better than what they previously anticipated.

With "buy" recommendations on all the three, Citi has raised its price target on Maruti Suzuki to ₹17,500, on M&M to ₹4,170 and on Hyundai Motor India to ₹2,900. Maruti Suzuki remains a top pick for Citi within the auto space, and its target is the fifth highest on the street for India's largest passenger carmaker.

Citi notes that a combination of the GST rate cuts, along with the late impact of the income tax revision, and lower interest rates creates an environment where the broader industry growth could turn out to be better than what the brokerage had earlier anticipated.

The base for passenger vehicles is also weaker compared to two-wheeler stocks, according to Citi, and as a result, the brokerage has raised its industry volume growth estimates to 2.1% for financial year 2026, 4.5% for financial year 2027 and 3.8% for financial year 2028 from 1.3%, 3.% and 3.1% projected earlier for those three years respectively.

Purchase decisions could fructify during the Navratri period, which commences on September 22, as currently, sales will be subdued due to the inauspicious Shraadh period, Citi wrote.

Most of the analysts tracking all these three stocks have a "buy" recommendation on them, with negligible number of "sell" recommendations. The Consensus estimates of price targets sees no upside for Maruti and Hyundai, but a 5.6% upside for Mahindra & Mahindra.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki are currently trading 1.4% higher at ₹15,300, while those of Hyundai Motor India are hitting new highs, currently trading 1.5% higher at ₹2,547. Mahindra & Mahindra shares are trading 0.5% higher at ₹3,612. All three stocks have gained between 10% to 20% in the last one month.