Automobile retail sales in India rose 12 per cent year-on-year to 42,88,248 units in the 42-day festive period this year, dealers’ body FADA said on Friday. Total automotive registrations in last year’s festive period stood at 38,37,040 units.
FADA President CS Vigneshwar said, “Since the start of Navratri we have seen a significant increase in numbers, surpassing our projected target with 42.88 lakh vehicles registered during this period, up from 38.37 lakh units last year. 11.76 percent more.”
Passenger vehicle retail sales during the festive period this year increased by 7 per cent to 6,03,009 units as against 5,63,059 units in the same period last year.
Vigneshwar said passenger vehicles made a comeback after the lull due to increased demand in the market and unprecedented discounts.
“While we celebrate these achievements, we acknowledge that we would have missed our target of 45 lakh units had it not been for the unseasonably heavy rains in South India, especially Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu, and Cyclone Dana that impacted Odisha. “Passenger vehicle stock levels will be further reduced. However, FADA advises caution as the complete picture of inventory will emerge by the end of the month, Vigneshwar said.
Two-wheeler registrations increased 14 percent year-on-year to 33,11,325 units in the 42-day period this year compared to 29,10,141 units last year.
Vigneshwar said two-wheeler sales were largely driven by strong rural demand.
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said the festive period this year was from Navratri to 15 days after Dhanteras due to time delay in vehicle registration.
During the period, commercial vehicle retail sales grew 1 per cent year-on-year to 1,28,738 units.
On the other hand, three-wheeler sales increased by 7 percent to 1,59,960 units during the festive period this year.
However, tractor sales declined 2 percent year-on-year to 85,216 units from 86,640 units in the year-ago period.
Vigneshwar said with one and a half months remaining before the calendar year ends, FADA has urged OEMs to focus on liquidating 2024 stock so that dealers can enter 2025 with an ideal 21 days of inventory.
“Looking ahead, the auto industry has still not fully benefited from the government stimulus in infrastructure spending, which we expect will drive growth in commercial vehicle sales,” he said.
Additionally, good rains and increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of crops by the government should make tractors perform better, bringing more money into the hands of farmers, he said.
FADA said the vehicle retail data was collected from 1,368 out of 1,430 RTOs across the country.
