Riding high on the Nexon SUV Tata Motors managed to regain the number three spot in passenger vehicles which it had lost to utility vehicle specialist Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) five years ago.

Sales of all passenger vehicles (cars and utility vehicles) sold by Tata Motors surpassed that of M&M last month as per data revealed by both the companies.

Tata Motors clocked volumes of 17,157 units during November as against 16,030 units clocked by M&M during the same month. While Tata Motors volumes jumped by 35 percent that of M&M surged by 21 percent.

Tata Motors volume surge was led by the recently launched Nexon compact SUV and the Tiago hatchback, both of which generate more than 60 percent of the total monthly volumes of the company. As per Tata Motors executives Nexon did face a production glitch soon after its launch but that has reportedly been sorted out and the company is going full ahead with production.

Five years ago when M&M dethroned Tata Motors from the third spot Tata Motors shareholders severely criticized the company at its annual general meeting chaired by Ratan Tata. “I have a certain degree of sadness and shame that we let Mahindra overtake us”, Tata had said back then.

Guenter Butschek, Managing Director, Tata Motors had promised a return to the third spot in the passenger vehicle space though he did not mention any timeline. Tata Motors was at the fifth spot when Butschek took over the reins.

The Mumbai-based company made some rapid strides during the last many months which besides the launch of new products also includes overhauling of its sales and service network and improve incentivisation of performance of its sales workforce.

In earlier interaction with Moneycontrol former Maruti Suzuki sales specialist Mayank Pareek who is now the president of Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle division had said that the company is working vigorously towards its stated objectives of getting the stand-alone entity back to profitability while regaining its lost market share.

While final data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers is awaited estimates suggest Tata Motors’ market share stood at 6.3 percent as against its all time low of 5 percent recorded a few years ago.

Meanwhile, Mahindra & Mahindra, which has been under pressure from competition especially Maruti Suzuki, is readying two all-new products for the launch spread over the next 12 months. These include a compact, stylish sport utility vehicle and a Toyota Innova-rivaling, multi-seater people mover.

November sales could be an aberration considering it was also the same month last year when the government announced demonetization that crippled the automotive market, severely hitting the rural demand. About half of M&M sales arises from the non-urban pockets.