Total vehicle retail sales in February dipped by 13.43 per cent year-on-year (YoY), according to vehicle registration data released by industry body Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Associations of India (FADA). 

Passenger vehicles showed double-digit growth at 10.59 per cent YoY. This growth was mainly due to the low base of last year as India had started transitioning from BS-4 to BS-6 emission norms, FADA said in a media release. 

On a YoY basis, two-wheeler, three-wheeler and commercial vehicle registrations continued their fall by 16.08, 49.65 and 29.53 per cent respectively. Tractors continued their positive momentum by growing 18.89 per cent, the data showed. 

Waiting period of passenger vehicles continued to remain as high as 8 months as the scarcity of semiconductors continued to linger around. Dealers’ inventory for passenger vehicles and two-wheelers remained in the range of 10-15 and 30-35 days.

“Two-wheelers continued to see sluggish demand as the new wave of COVID in certain States kept customers away. Enquiry levels also narrowed as many educational institutions were still reluctant to open. Fuel prices are at their historic high and have put a dampener in sentiments. This in turn has pressed the brake on the sale of entry-level, price-sensitive category,” said FADA President Vinkesh Gulati.

Overall, commercial vehicles segment continued to falter as availability of finance, negligible sales of passenger buses due to closure of educational institutes and supply-side constraints kept the registrations in deep red, Mr Gulati added.