Automobile sales in India lose steam | The FADA report

After 2 months of adrenaline rush, auto sales for the month of December 2022 went into a lull. The major contributor to this slump was the two-wheeler market which fell by 5 per cent.

As per the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) data, total vehicle retail sales during December 2022 fell by 5%, with two wheelers registering a fall of 11%.

However, all other categories registered growth with three-wheelers, Passenger Vehicles (PV), Tractor and Commercial Vehicles (CV) growing by 42%, 8%, 5% and 11% respectively.

When compared to pre-covid month of December 2019, total vehicle sales were down by 12%. Here also, except two-wheelers which fell by 21%, all the other categories like 3-wheelers, PV, Tractor and CV closed in green by 4%, 21%, 27% and 9%, respectively.

Commenting on the industry’s sales performance in December 2022, FADA President, Manish Raj Singhania said, “The month of December went into lull after 2 super months of October and November which witnessed an adrenaline rush in the entire Auto Industry. December 2022 saw an overall decline of 5%. While all other categories were in green, it was the two wheeler segment which once again dragged total sales by 11%. The three-wheeler, PV, Tractor and CV sales during the same period showed growth of 42%, 8%, 5% and 11%.”

As per the FADA report, two-wheeler sales for December stood at 11,33,138 units compared to 12,75,894 units in 2021. Numbers were more significantly down by 29.07 per cent over December 2020 (15,97,554 units) and by 20.54 per cent over pre-pandemic 2019 levels (14,25,994 units). The segment had seemed to be on the path to recovery in recent months with strong growth over 2021. October 2022 saw sales exceed 2019 pre-covid levels while sales in November were down 0.86 per cent over 2019.