Retail sales of vehicle declined 5 per cent in December

MUMBAI: After two straight months of robust growth, retail sales of vehicles declined five per cent year-on-year in December. In December 2022, 16,22,317 units were sold as against 17,14,942 units sold in December 2021, data released by The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) on Thursday showed.

Of the total sales, 11,33,138 of them were 2-Wheelers as against 12,75,894 2 in December 2021, registering a decrease of 11 percent. Except for 2 Wheelers, all the categories were in the green with 3 Wheeler, Passenger Vehicle (PV) Tractor and Commercial Vehicle (CV) growing by 42 percent, 8 percent, 5 percent, and 11 percent, respectively. For the entire calendar year 2022, total vehicle retails grew by 15 per cent YoY, 17 per cent when compared to 2020 but fell by 10 per cent from the pre-covid year of 2019.

"The month of December went into a lull after 2 super months of October and November which witnessed adrenaline rush in the entire Auto Industry," said FADA President Manish Raj Singhania. Singhania said the 2W segment once again failed to impress as retail sales continued to fall after two good months.

"Reasons like rise in inflation, increased cost of ownership rural market yet to pick up fully and increased EV sales, the ICE 2W segment is yet to see any green shoots," Singhania added. Commenting on the near-term outlook, Singhania said that global geopolitical headwinds, tightening monetary policy, and the lingering effect of the pandemic have combined to create a gloomy global outlook. FADA remains cautious during January-March 2023.