Passenger vehicle retail sales rise 4% in November on festive demand: FADA

Automobile dealers' body FADA on Tuesday said passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in November witnessed a year-on-year increase of 4.17 per cent to 2,91,001 units as Diwali-Dhanteras period led to rise in vehicle registrations.

According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which collected vehicle registration data from 1,265 out of the 1,472 regional transport offices (RTOs), PV sales stood at 2,79,365 units in November 2019.

Two-wheeler sales, however, declined 21.4 per cent to 14,13,378 units last month, as compared to 17,98,201 units in November 2019.

Commercial vehicle sales also slipped 31.22 per cent to 50,113 units, as against 72,863 units a year ago.

Similarly, three-wheeler sales fell 64.98 per cent to 24,185 units last month, from 69,056 units in the year-ago period.

Tractor sales, however, grew by 8.47 per cent to 49,313 units last month, against 45,462 units in the same month last year.

Total sales across categories declined 19.29 per cent to 18,27,990 units last month, compared to 22,64,947 units in the year-ago period.

"While registrations during Navratri were tepid, people came out in good numbers to purchase their dream vehicles during the Dhanteras – Diwali period," FADA President Vinkesh Gulati said.

New launches and specially compact SUV's continued to show good demand in the PV segment, he added.

The two-wheeler segment continued to witness a shift from 100cc to 125cc and above category due to good harvesting coupled with Dhanteras-Diwali and marriage season, Gulati said.

Commenting on small goods commercial vehicles, he said the segment continued to see good demand with increased level of transportation and last-mile connectivity needs.

With schools and colleges continuing to remain closed, demand for buses remains weak. Similarly, the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segment continues to play spoilsport with excessive capacity, high prices of BS-VI models, finance issues and high fuel price, Gulati noted.

"FADA once again urges the government to increase infrastructure spending, including timely payment to vendors and introduce attractive incentive based scrappage policy to revive the M&HCV segment," he added.

On sales outlook, Gulati said with the festive season coming to a close, demand revival now solely depends on year-end schemes.

"If the supply chain issues in the passenger vehicle segment are controlled, we may see continued growth in December," he added.

Gulati also cautioned the two-wheeler Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEMs) and dealers to keep a check on vehicle inventory as post festivals, demand may remain subdued.