The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) released the monthly vehicle registration data for September 2020. The automotive industry retailed 1,344,866 units across segments (2Ws, 3Ws, CVs, PVs and tractors), which was down 10.24 percent YoY, but a healthy 11.66 percent growth over August 2020.
Vinkesh Gulati, president, FADA, said, “With the government’s persistent effort to unlock India, the month of September continued to witness automobile registrations on a rise as compared to previous months. Passenger vehicles for the first time saw positive growth coming back on YoY basis. With social distancing on customer’s mind coupled with government’s push to further normalise business conditions and banks becoming more considerate to finance vehicles, entry level passenger vehicles saw good demand thus indicating a preference for personal transportation over public. New launches and vehicle availability played their part as catalyst. A lower base during last FY also helped the cause.”
In terms of segment-wise sales the tractor industry continues its dream run as Kharif sowing witnessed record progress of area covered till date when compared to last year. Gulati expects with good Rabi season resulting in good disposable income, rural market also saw its rub off effect on two-wheeler, small passenger vehicles and small commercial vehicles. Overall, two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and commercial vehicles continued to march ahead on MoM basis and inched up to narrow their gap with last year’s sale even though pre-Covid levels are yet to be seen across all categories.
FADA states that while recently, the economic revival was mostly limited to rural India and impact of Covid-19 was still felt on larger states and urban centres, the top states which make up half of India’s economic output (Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and West Bengal) have now started showing signs of revival as economic activities in these states are at its peak since lockdown began in March. This has also helped in creating a demand for automobile sales.