Economy in crisis: Passenger vehicle retail sales fall 5% in January

Indicating that the India’s automobile sector is in deep crisis, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) – a body representing automobile dealers on Thursday said passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in January declined 4.61 per cent to 2,90,879 units as compared to the same month last year.

According to FADA, the decline in sale of the passenger’s vehicle is an outcome of the tepid response by the end customers.

FADA, which collected vehicle registration data from 1,223 out of the 1,432 regional transport offices (RTOs), said private vehicle sale sales stood at 3,04,929 units in January 2019 while two-wheeler sales declined 8.82 per cent to 12,67,366 units last month as compared with 13,89,951 units in January 2019.

During this time, sales of the commercial vehicles, as per FADA has also declined 6.89 per cent to 82,187 units as compared to 88,271 units in January 2019.

Total sales across categories declined 7.17 per cent to 17,50,116 units last month as against 18,85,253 units in the year-ago month.

“Auto sales continue to be in the negative territory in the month of January, except for three wheelers, with many consumers still not concluding on their decisions. Ongoing transition of BS-IV to BS-VI is also a factor in delayed purchase decision,” FADA President Ashish Harsharaj Kale was quoted as saying by the media.

Overall weak economic sentiment continues and even the Budget 2020, although an inclusive budget with growth drivers for the mid to long term, did not have any direct measures nor any immediate growth enabling initiatives for the auto sector, he added.

“We appeal to the government to continue announcing positive measure, specifically for the auto industry, as well as for the overall economy which will help us return to growth trajectory at the earliest,” said Kale according to the news agency PTI.