Retail vehicle sales in India may suffer in the final quarter of the fiscal year, according to an automobile dealers body, which reported a more than 5 per cent year-on-year drop in December sales of 1.62 million units on Thursday. India has mandated that automakers comply with stricter fuel efficiency standards beginning in April 2023 in order to reduce carbon emissions. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), this would result in additional price increases and lower sales for the 31 March.
Auto sales figures are closely monitored because they are one of the key indicators used to assess private consumption and account for more than 50 per cent of the country’s economic growth.
According to FADA data released on Thursday, sales of two-wheelers, which account for 60 per cent -70 per cent of total vehicle sales, fell 11.2 per cent to 11,33,138 units.
According to the body, sales at India’s top bike and scooter manufacturers fell due to higher inflation, higher ownership costs, and the rural market’s failure to fully recover. It also stated that increased EV sales had harmed the internal combustion engine two-wheeler segment.
Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, saw a sharp drop in retail sales, reducing its market share for the month to 29.1 per cent from 34.8 per cent a year ago. This year, the New Delhi-based firm has faced competition from Honda’s Indian two-wheeler unit.
Passenger vehicle (PV) sales increased 8.2 per cent month on month to 280,016 units, with an all-time high of over 3.43 million units expected in 2022, according to FADA. The increase in PV sales was most likely driven by continued strong demand for utility vehicles (UV), which have grown in popularity over entry-level compact cars.
