Automobile retail sales rise 11% in September on festive fervour, better supplies

Automobile retail sales in India rose 11% in September as better supplies from manufacturers enabled dealers to ramp up customer deliveries amid the ongoing festive period, Federation Of Automobile Dealers Associations said on Tuesday.

Last month, total retail sales stood at 14,64,001 units as compared to 13,19,647 units in September 2021.

FADA noted that October is expected to witness even better overall sales due to the festive season further gathering steam.

“Dealers anticipate this to be the best festive period in a decade for the passenger vehicle segment as we anticipate even higher sales during the month,” it said.

Barring tractors and some three-wheeler trims, all other segments like passenger and commercial vehicles and two wheelers performed better in September as compared to the year-ago period.

Passenger vehicle retails increased 10% to 2,60,556 units last month as against 2,37,502 units in September 2021.

“Better availability of cars due to easing semiconductor supply, new launches and feature rich products kept customers glued to dealerships for getting their favourite vehicles during the auspicious period,” Federation Of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) President Manish Raj Singhania said in a statement.

While semiconductor supply continues to ease, FADA requests OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to match supply as per the demand so that PV sales can further receive a boost, he added.

Similarly, two-wheeler registrations saw an increase of 9% at 10,15,702 units last month as compared with 9,31,654 units in September last year.

Mr. Singhania noted that entry level bike space was the most hit, thus dragging the entire two-wheeler segment sales.

FADA said commercial vehicle offtakes rose to 71,233 units as compared with 59,927 units last September, an increase of 19%.

Last month, tractor sales stood at 52,595 units compared to 53,392 units in September last year.

In the passenger vehicle space, Maruti Suzuki India led the vertical with retails of 1,03,912 units in September as compared to 99,276 units in the year-ago period.

Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors saw registrations of 39,118 and 36,435 units last month, respectively, FADA said.

In the two-wheeler space, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India led with the sale of 2,84,160 units in September. It was followed by Hero MotoCorp with registrations of 2,50,246 units.

Tata Motors led the commercial vehicle segment with the sale of 28,615 units last month, FADA said.

Three-wheeler vertical saw Bajaj Auto lead with the sale of 19,474 units last month.