NEW DELHI: Demand for passenger vehicles (PV) continue to remain robust as the segment in September 2022 witnessed a growth of 10% year-on-year (YoY) and 44% when compared to September 2019, the pre-covid month.
As per data released by FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations) on Tuesday, retail PV sales in September 2022 stood at 260,556 units as against 237,502 units in September 2021, 203,300 units in September 2020 and 180,347 in September 2019. Growth in retail PV sales comes even as few automakers are yet to scale their manufacturing facility to full capacity due to supply chain constraints and waiting period for SUVs stretches from 3 months to 24 months.
“Better availability due to easing semi-conductor supply, new launches and feature rich products kept customers glued to dealerships for getting their favourite vehicles during the auspicious period,” said FADA President Manish Raj Singhania. The two-wheeler market, impacted by rise in ownership cost and distress in rural economy, is yet to breach the pre-covid level.
Last month, the segment showed a growth of 9% YoY but fell by 14% from September 2019. Two-wheeler sales in September 2022 stood at 10,15,702 units as against 9,31,654 units in September 2021, 10,56,997 units in September 2020 and 11,81,668 units in September 2019. “Due to rise in input costs, two-wheeler firms raised prices by 5 times in past 1 year.
Apart from this, RBI’s fight against inflation saw rate hikes, which continued to make vehicle loans expensive,” said Singhania. He added, “While India is showing revival signs, Bharat is yet to perform. Two-wheelers, especially entry-level vehicles, are finding fewer buyers. Three-wheeler segment continues to see a structural shift from internal combustion engine (ICE) to EV.”
Fada said the enquiry level in two-wheeler segment is showing positive movement and if this segment also performs well, improving its growth to low double digits, overall auto retail will see higher growth compared to last 2 festivals but may still lag pre-covid numbers of October 2019.
