Retail Auto Sales Rise In November, Pointing To Rollover From Diwali

Retail auto sales in November jumped to their highest in about a year, led by two-wheelers. Still, it may be early to see it as a sign of revival.

Vehicle registrations rose 16.4 percent month-on-month and 2.8 percent over the previous year to 21.56 lakh units in November—the highest since November 2018—according to data from 1,171 regional transport offices in 31 states and union territories, collated by BloombergQuint from the website of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

The registration data comes with a lag of about a week and some of the vehicles booked in the last week of October during the Diwali festivities would have been registered in November. So, there’s a possibility of a rollover from the previous month. BloombergQuint’s survey of nine large dealerships revealed had, in fact, revealed that buyers had advanced purchases to time with Dhanteras towards the end of October. Moreover, the sales were driven by deep discounts, usually not available during the festival season.

Registration data showed two-wheelers and three-wheelers witnessed buying. Total registrations fell 2 percent year-on-year for the first 11 months of this calendar year, with sales of commercial vehicles dropping four percent and that of two-wheelers and cars declining two percent each.

Registrations of two-wheelers jumped 20.7 percent month-on-month and 2.6 percent year-on-year, but that included a spillover of sales at dealers during October-end. Registrations in November was greater than November 2018, which was the festive month last year.

Registrations of cars in November slipped 2.7 percent month-on-month but rose 3.4 percent over the previous year.

Tractors witnessed jump in demand in November ahead of the Rabi crop sowing season and the possible support of loan melas undertaken by banks in November. Sales jumped 21.1 percent over the previous month and nine percent year-on-year.

Sales of commercial vehicles recovered in November, with registrations rising 10.1 percent even as it slumped over the same period last year.

The registrations of three-wheelers rose to a 23-month high in November, registering a 19.7 percent gain over the previous year.