- Passenger vehicle registration drops by 20.1 per cent on YoY basis
- With mandatory BS-VI implementation just five months away the demand is not too strong
- Festive season which started with Onam and followed by Ganpati, Vishwakarma Puja and the start of Navratri sees a lackluster demand till date
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has released the Monthly Vehicle Registration Data for the Month of September 2019. The data reveals that the auto registration last month has dropped to a new low and it continued to reflect weakness in the customer sentiments even with the onset of the festive season and highest ever discounts being offered by vehicle manufacturers. Overall, on a Year-on-Year basis, the passenger vehicle registration has dropped by 20.1 per cent. The festive season which started with Onam and was followed by Ganpati, Vishwakarma Puja and the start of Navratri has seen a lackluster demand till date.
Speaking about vehicle sales in September, Ashish Harsharaj Kale said, “FADA believed September to be a transition month into positivity with continued monsoon and measure after measures being announced by the government. The auto industry retails were under pressure during the month and the de-growth was on expected lines. The continued heavy monsoons in major geographies and the Shraddh period also contributed to this sales lag. The complete effects of the positive measures announced by the government was still not visible at the retail levels in the month of September. The corporate tax cut although not a direct positive for auto retails, but hopefully, the savings by corporates will result in higher outflow in promotional offers and marketing spends resulting in some positivity in the market.”
The report further reveals that the high inventory concerns that commenced with the previous festive season still continues to be a problematic area for the auto dealer fraternity. With high retails expected in October, FADA believes that this will provide an opportunity to its members to correct the same, before the transition to the BS-VI norms. FADA has reportedly advised its members and also urged all the OEM’s to be judicious in their assessment of the Retail Conditions and accordingly regulate their wholesale billing as the demand situation continues to be in a dynamic state. If retail growth is projected beyond a realistic situation, it can once again lead to a high inventory situation in this tricky phase of BS-VI transition which is just five months away.
