NEW DELHI: Despite a low base in FY21, overall retail auto sales (vehicle registration) in September 2021 fell over 5% year-on-year to 12,96,257 units, said Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) on Thursday. This fall is sharper at 13.5% when compared to the pre-Covid month of September 2019 (14,98,585 units).
The YoY decline in September 2021 is largely attributed to 11.5% slump in high volume two-wheelers retail sales. In September 2021, two-wheeler registration stood at 9,14,621 units as against 10,33,895 units in September 2020.
“The 2W category continues to play spoilsport as the entry level segment is yet to witness healthy growth. This segment’s performance is now becoming critical for the overall 2W to come back on the path of recovery as dealer inventory rises to 30-35 days in anticipation of a good festive season. Semiconductor shortage has also started impacting the 150+ cc segment,” said Vinkesh Gulati, FADA President.
Beside two-wheelers, tractor sales plummeted by 24% Y-o-Y to 52,896 units in September 2021. However, passenger vehicles (PV) sales, despite facing a massive semi-conductor shortage crisis, grew by over 16% Y-o-Y last month to 2,33,308 units. Commercial vehicle sales witnessed a turnaround and grew by 47% to 58,820 units.
Gulati said, “During the 1st half of this FY, while the overall retails were up by 35%, the same was down by -29% when compared to 2019, a pre-Covid year. On a long term basis, except tractors which grew by 19% and PV which has almost reached pre-Covid levels, all the other segments were in red,”
He added that as we enter the core of this year’s festive season, the full blown semi-conductor crisis continues to create hindrance in PV sales as vehicle inventory at dealers end dip to record lows of 15-20 days during the current fiscal. With high demand in this segment, long waiting periods continue to frustrate and keep enthusiastic buyers in a fix, said Gulati.
