Car sales rise but 2-wheelers drag sector into the red
According to FADA data, two-wheeler numbers dropped 16% in February, while passenger vehicles’ grew 10.5%
T E NARASIMHAN
Chennai, 9 March
Retail sales of passenger
vehicles grew by a robust 10.59
per cent in February 2021,
helped by the low base of last
year, while for two-wheelers, it
dropped by around 16 per cent.
This led to an overall fall in
automobile sales by 13.43 per
cent in February to 14,99,036
units from 17,31,628 units in the
same period last year.
According to Federation of
Automobile Dealers
Association (FADA) data, pas-
senger vehicles registered
sales of 254,058 units as com-
pared to 229,734 units a year
ago. Sales had grown for the
first time this fiscal year in
December only to fall again in
January.
The association said that
the waiting period for pas-
senger vehicles is now as high Market share change of passenger buses due to clo-
as eight months. This comes at
MIXED SIGNALS sure of educational institutes
All-India vehicle registration Top passenger car makers
a time when companies are and supply-side constraints
 Feb '20  Feb '21 Market share (%)
facing challenges in the supply data for February 2021 keep registrations in deep red.
chain due to global semicon- Maruti 114,848 49.99 Light commercial vehicles
Feb '20 Feb '21 YoY % Suzuki 119,246 46.94
ductor and container short- (LCVs), which saw good pent-
ages. FADA urged the govern- 2-wheeler 1,300,364 1,091,288 -16.08 Hyundai 35,337 15.38 up demand during the last few
ment to hold discussions with 3-wheeler 66,177 33,319 -49.65 Motor 43,873 17.27 months post unlocking, have
countries manufacturing semi- Tata 12,978 5.65 now started to fall flat. Gulati
PV 229,734 254,058 10.59
conductors (Taiwan and Motors 20,948 8.25 added, tippers and HCVs are,
others) so that the momentum Tractor 51,602 61,351 18.89
Kia 10,307 4.49 in turn, showing initial signs of
that was built so far in automo- CV 83,751 59,020 -29.53 Motors 14,828 5.84 revival as the government’s
bile sales is not lost. infrastructure push has started
Overall, FADA continues to Total 1,731,628 1,499,036 -13.43 18,226 7.93 creating demand.
M&M 14,683 5.78
remain guarded in its opti- Source: FADA Research
According to him, tractor
mism for vehicle registrations registrations will continue to
in March. Tractors, which have broader market, passenger vehicles. Average inventory for tions are still reluctant to open. outperform overall registra-
grown for much of last year, vehicles witnessed double- passenger vehicles ranges from Fuel prices are at historic highs tions in the near term. “Fuel
continued their stellar run with digit sales growth on a low base 10-15 days, while for two- and have put a dampener on consumption, which had
a near 19 per cent growth dur- of last year as India started wheelers it is 30-35 days. sentiment. This, in turn, has almost recovered from the
ing the month. The commer- transitioning from BS-IV to BS- Two-wheelers continued to pressed the brakes on sales in lows of the pandemic, is again
cial vehicle (CV) segment’s VI. see sluggish demand as the the entry-level category, which witnessing headwinds due to
sales dropped by 29.53 per cent. FADA survey showed that new wave of Covid — in certain is price sensitive. historic price hikes. This will
FADA president Vinkesh 50 per cent passenger vehicle states — kept customers away. Overall, the CV segment have a negative impact on
Gulati said while tractors con- dealers lost over 20 per cent Enquiry levels also narrowed continues to be hit as availabil- two-wheeler and CV sales,”
tinued to outperform the sales due to non-availability of as many educational institu- ity of finance, negligible sales said Gulati.