Retail Auto Sales Jump To 10-Month High In September On Festive Season Discounts
Vehicle registrations rose 24.2 percent month-on-month and 23.5 percent on a yearly basis at 19.89 lakh units in September.
Retail auto sales, measured by the number of new vehicles registered across India, jumped to the highest in 10 months in September as heavy discounts ahead of the festive season lured buyers into the showrooms.
Vehicle registrations—a measure of sales at dealerships—rose 24.2 percent month-on-month and 23.5 percent on a yearly basis to 19.89 lakh units last month, the highest monthly retail registrations 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 last two days of September coincided with the onset of ‘Navratri’ or nine days leading to Dussehra, considered auspicious for buying.
That’s also reflected in BloombergQuint’s survey of 10 dealerships that found auto sales rising in September as automakers offered the year’s biggest discounts.
Though growth was seen across segments, two-wheelers and passenger vehicles contributed the most to the increase in sales in September. Two-wheeler sales at dealerships rose 23.4 percent sequentially and 23 percent year-on-year.
Sales of passenger vehicles rose 28.1 percent sequentially, and 22.4 percent year-on-year. The monthly sales are the highest since January 2019.
Tractors sales rose 8.1 percent month-on-month, and 45.2 percent on a yearly basis.
Commercial vehicle makers offered huge discounts in September and witnessed de-stocking of inventory. Sales rose 29 percent over the last month to 87,180 units—the highest since March 2019. Year-on-year, sales rose 11.3 percent.
Sales of three-wheelers rose a little more than 40 percent on a monthly basis, and 41.1 percent over last year. Three-wheeler sales rose to the highest in nearly two years in September.
Still, this is just a small blip for India’s automobile sector that’s grappling with the worst slowdown in more than two decades amid falling consumption and financing crunch.