No festive cheer for auto dealers as sales fall 11 per cent

​New Delhi: Domestic automobile retail sales in the festive season declined by 11 per cent this year due to dip in offtake of passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, according to FADA. The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said that with retail sales, calculated on the basis of total number of registrations, witnessing decline specially in two-wheeler and passenger vehicles (PV) segments, a substantially high amount of inventory has become “a matter of great concern”. 

According to FADA, total registrations during the 42-day festive period, which fell between October 10 and November 20 this year, stood at 20,49,391 units. Last year, the period was between September 21 and November 1, and the industry witnessed total registrations of 23,01,986 units, it said. PV registrations in this year's festive period stood at 2,87,717 units as against 3,33,456 units in the corresponding period last year, down 14 per cent, FADA said. 

Two-wheeler registrations also fell by 13 per cent to 15,83,276 units as against 18,11,703 units in the year-ago period.  “We have not seen such a dull festive season in the past few years, as many negative factors came into play during this season which weakened the consumer sentiment and postponed their purchase decision,” FADA President Ashish Harsharaj Kale said in a statement. 

High fuel prices and insurance costs along with liquidity issues faced by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) had affected consumer sentiment. “Overall, we have seen unusual de-growth during the combined festive period, both in two-wheelers and PVs,” FADA said.