Steep decline in vehicle sales hits dealers during fest

During the festival season Navratri to Deepavali, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) recorded a dismal decline in sales of two-wheelers and four-wheelers, barring three-wheelers like commercial vehicles and autorickshaws. In fact, this is the first time in the past five years or so that FADA has notched a negative growth during the auspicious festival season of around 42 days, when thousands flock to book or purchase vehicles.

“We had not witnessed such a dull festival season... Many negative factors came into play during this season. It’s a matter of deep concern for the dealership community,” FADA President Ashish H Kale said. According to Kale, four-wheelers or passengers vehicles recorded a steep decline of 14 per cent in the prime time between Sept 21-Nov 20 this year, against the same period in 2017.

This came to actual sales of 287,717 passenger vehicles this season, down from last (2017) season’s 333,456, he said. In the two-wheelers segment, the decline was equally sharp at 13 per cent during the same period, recording 15,83,276 two-wheelers sold compared to 18,11,703 last season, Kale said.

Four-wheelers notched an overall decline of 1.4 pc from April to November this year, or 16,26,555 passenger vehicles sold compared to 16,49,650 sold during the same period in 2017. The only silver lining for FADA was the 10 pc growth in the three-wheelers and commercial vehicles categories.