In February, retail sales of passenger cars increased by 11 percent and reached 2,87,182 units. (File)
New Delhi:
Auto retail sales in India posted double-digit growth in February, driven by robust sales across segments including passenger cars and two-wheelers, auto dealers’ body FADA said today.
Total registrations across the segments rose 16% last month to 17,75,424 units compared to 15,31,196 vehicles in February 2022.
Retail sales of passenger vehicles rose 11 percent last month to 2,87,182 units as against 2,58,736 units in the year-ago period.
“Launches of new models, continuous improvement in deliveries, healthy booking and cancellation ratio and wedding bells have maintained the segment’s momentum,” Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) president Manish Raj Singhania said in a statement.
Two-wheeler registrations rose 15 percent last month to 12,67,233 units from 11,04,309 units in February 2022.
“The two-wheeler category grew by 15 per cent year-on-year but fell by 14 per cent compared to February 20 before Covid,” Singhania said.
The change in OBD norms, which will come into force from April, along with the wedding season, has boosted sales, he added.
“Overall, high inflation and poor sentiment have worried consumers,” he said.
Total retail sales of commercial vehicles in February increased by 17 percent to 79,027 units compared to 67,391 units in the same month last year.
However, this is down 10 percent compared to pre-Covid February 2020.
Three-wheeler retail sales grew by a massive 81 percent registering 72,994 units as compared to 40,224 units in February 2022.
Likewise, sales of tractors in February increased by 14 percent compared to last year and amounted to 68,988 units.
On the business outlook, Singhania pointed out that several festivals in the near future will have an impact on sales.
“On the one hand, India’s chief economic adviser said the recovery in urban demand is coming at a faster pace than in rural areas. This suggests that demand for household spending has softened amid inflationary pressures to a two-year low, along with a sharp slowdown in private consumption spending. Post-Covid demand is starting to ease.” , – he added.
Meanwhile, the return of El Nino conditions in the Pacific Ocean could portend a weaker monsoon in India, resulting in lower production and higher prices, which will affect car sales, Singhania said.
“While March looks good, in the medium term, FADA remains cautious until a good monsoon forecast is announced by IMD,” he said.
FADA said it has collected vehicle retail sales data from 1,348 out of 1,434 RTOs across the country.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published on a syndicated channel.)
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