Passenger vehicle registrations grow 9.8 pc in September

Automobile registrations across the country dipped by 10.24 per cent in September from the year-ago period but passenger vehicles marked a growth of 9.8 per cent, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) said on Thursday.

FADA President Vinkesh Gulati said September continued to witness a rise due to onset of the festival season but auto registrations continued to plunge on year-on-year basis despite the country gradually easing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

Three-wheeler registrations were down by 69.51 per cent with 16,857 registrations in August 2020 compared to 55,293 in the year-ago period.

Commercial vehicles witnessed a downswing of 33.65 per cent to 39,600 registrations versus 59,683 in September 2019, data released by FADA showed.

Two-wheeler registrations totalled 10.16 lakh last month compared to 11.63 lakh in September 2019, marking a slide of 12.62 per cent.

However, passenger vehicle registrations edged higher by 9.81 per cent to 1.95 lakh from 1.78 lakh in the year-ago period. And tractor registrations rose by 80.39 per cent to 68,564 last month compared to 38,008 in the year-ago period.

That took overall vehicle registrations to 13.44 lakh in September 2020, down 10.24 per cent from 14.98 lakh in August 2019.

Gulati said entry-level passenger vehicles saw good demand, thus indicating a preference for personal transportation over public.

"The top states which makes up half of India's economic output (Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and West Bengal) are now showing signs of revival," said Gulati.

With banks and non-banking finance compes gearing up with various festival offers to woo retail customers, auto sales are expected to witness renewed growth and may close at par with last year.

Passenger vehicles and two-wheelers are anticipated to lead the way, he said.

FADA India represents over 15,000 automobile dealers having 25,000 dealerships including 30 associations of automobile dealers at the regional, state and city levels accounting for 90 per cent of market share.

( With inputs from ANI )