August India BI declines 0.60% to 98.80 over July; 18 of 35 super-categories contract
With Hyundai, TVS, Dell, Toyota, Honda at top - Four-Wheelers & Motorcycle Manufacturers lead
3 September 2026, Mumbai: TRA Research today released the August 2026 reading of India Buying Intent (India BI), a macro-economic index built for marketers allowing them to get a reading of urban Indian consumers’ keenness to buy. The August 2026 India BI stands at 98.80, down 0.60% from 99.40 in July 2026.
The August India BI is classified as Decelerating, with the index below its three-month trend of 99.27. Of the 35 super-categories tracked, 18 contracted during the month, compared with 12 in July. The recent India BI has moved from 99.60 in June to 99.40 in July and 98.80 in August.
Among the larger consumer-facing super-categories, Technology rose from 6.3 in July to 7.1 in August, Automobile from 10.3 to 10.9, and Consumer Appliances from 2.4 to 2.9. These were the three largest unit gains among the major categories tracked.
At the same time, Food & Beverage declined from 10.4 to 9.4, Personal Accessories from 5.8 to 4.8, and FMCG from 9.1 to 8.2. Consumer Electronics eased from 14.0 to 13.4, but retained most of the sharp recovery seen in July.
Mr. N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research, publishers of Buying Intent data, said, “August shows consumers are indecisive in their buying readiness. India BI has eased for a second consecutive month, and Category BI has also narrowed, but the movement is far from uniform. Automobile has strengthened for a second month, Technology has moved up sharply, and Consumer Appliances has also gained. For marketers, this is a market that needs to be read category by category rather than through the national number alone.”
Automobile’s improvement is particularly notable, with its India BI moving from 7.8 in June to 10.3 in July and 10.9 in August. Consumer Electronics, which rebounded from 11.9 in June to 14.0 in July, moderated to 13.4 in August while still holding substantially above its June level.
At the brand level, Hyundai recorded the largest positive Buying Intent movement in August, gaining 298.7 points month-on-month. It was followed by TVS (+273.4 points), Dell (+242.4), Toyota (+209.2) and Honda (+192.2). Voltas (+185.0), Lenovo (+166.9), HDFC Bank (+164.6), Royal Enfield (+154.7) and IFB (+141.9) completed the ten brands with the strongest positive momentum.
The largest declines in Brand Buying Intent were recorded by Maruti Suzuki (-348.0 points), Titan (-311.1), Amul (-259.7), LG (-250.9) and Blue Star (-250.9). Sony (-244.0), State Bank of India (-219.4), LIC (-213.9), Hitachi (-196.3) and boAt (-185.6) were the other brands among August’s ten largest declines.
The brand movements also underline the selectivity visible in the broader market. Automobile brands feature prominently on both sides of the momentum table, with Hyundai and Toyota among the strongest gainers even as Maruti Suzuki recorded the month’s largest decline. Similar divergence is visible within consumer durables, banking and electronics, suggesting that movement within categories is increasingly brand-specific rather than uniform.
Among all super-categories, the largest percentage increases in August were recorded by Services (+128%), Transportation (+99%) and Healthcare (+46%). The sharpest declines were in Print Media (-67%), Dinnerware (-49%) and Alcoholic Beverages (-41%).
India’s buying mindset remained largely unchanged between the two months. Conscious evaluation accounted for 62.61% of buying decisions in August, compared with 62.67% in July, while instinct accounted for 37.39%.
“For marketers, August calls for sharper allocation by geography, in fact even by zones in a city. One has to deliberate more on micro-marketing and micro-advertising with promotions aimed at the most amenable audiences and city-belts,” Chandramouli added.
The monthly tracking of India BI helps brands, marketers, agencies, media houses, consultants, researchers and business analysts understand the state of the market and its direction. By monitoring changes in brand and category momentum month after month, the index offers an early view of emerging consumer trends, competitive shifts and evolving buying behaviour across the marketplace.
Official Link of India Buying Intent
About India Buying Intent Index
India Buying Intent is the world’s first macro-economic index built for marketers. It gives a monthly, national read on how ready India is to buy. Of everything that shapes a buying decision, Consumer Buying Intent is moved by marketing initiatives, and this index is a forward-looking macro signal.
India BI is built on two forces that sit behind every buying decision: Trust and Desire. Trust reflects reassurance, belief and confidence in a brand, while Desire reflects pull, relevance and the consumer’s urge to choose. Together, they produce Buying Intent.
Measured monthly across brands, categories and sectors, India BI helps marketers read the direction of consumer keenness to buy, phase campaigns and launches, direct budgets towards rising intent, and improve returns by aligning marketing weight with consumer receptivity.
About TRA Research
TRA Research is one of India’s leading brand intelligence and consumer research companies, known for its work on Trust and Desire. Through proprietary research frameworks and large-scale consumer studies, TRA Research has been studying the drivers of brand preference, consumer confidence and buying behaviour across categories and sectors.
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Pooja Basu
TRA Research
pooja.basu@trustadvisory.info
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