Passenger vehicle sales plunge 87% during May

New Delhi: Automobile dealers' body FADA on Thursday said passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in May declined 86.97 per cent to 30,749 units as compared to same month last year, hit by coronavirus-led lockdown.

According to Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which collected vehicle registration data from 1,225 out of the 1,435 regional transport offices (RTOs), PV sales stood at 2,35,933 units in May 2019.

Two wheeler sales declined 88.8 per cent to 1, 59,039 units last month as compared with 14, 19,842 units in May 2019. Commercial vehicle sales declined 96.63 per cent to 2,711 units as compared to 80,392 units in same month last year.

Three-wheeler sales declined 96.34 percent to 1,881 units last month as compared with 51,430 units in year-ago month. Total sales across categories declined 88.87 per cent to 2, 02,697 units last month as against 18, 21,650 units in May 2019.

"At the end of May, out of 26,500 outlets about 60 per cent showrooms and 80 per cent workshops were operational across the country.

May registrations are hence not indicative of the demand situation as the lockdown still continued in many parts," FADA President Ashish Harsharaj Kale said.

First ten days of June witnessed extremely low demand despite many dealerships open for business, he added.

"Weak consumer confidence especially in urban areas continues to haunt as customers stay away from concluding their purchases due to threat of community spread and return of complete lockdown," Kale said.

With a projected annual de-growth of 35 per cent by SIAM, on top of the 18 per cent de-growth faced last year, the dealership community faces its toughest year ever as volumes are estimated to reduce to half in a span of 20 months, he noted.