Vehicle Sales In India Saw A Decline Of 8% In March 2019: FADA

Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) today released the Monthly Vehicle Registration Data for the month of March 2019. The Financial Year 2018-19 that ended as of March 31, 2019, saw vehicle sales drop by 8 per cent with total retail sales accounting for 16,82,656 units compared to the 18,21,538 vehicles sold in March 2018. FADA says that there was de-growth in all the categories as March 2018 was one of the biggest months for retails last fiscal year. However, as for Month on Month (MoM) sales, March 2019 ended on a positive note for FADA, as the industry bagged a growth of 8 per cent, compared to February 2019.

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Commenting on the yearly and monthly performance, FADA President, Ashish Harsharaj Kale said, "I am happy to share that at the retail front, the Indian Auto Sector has managed to close FY19 on a positive note. All the segments echoed positivity in March when compared to February sales, with 2W leading the charge with a healthy growth of 10 per cent which indicated slight improvement in consumer sentiment and liquidity availability."

Compared to February 2019, two-wheeler sales grew by 10 per cent in March 2019, but dropped by 7 per cent in YoY sales

In March 2019, the two-wheeler segment witnessed a de-growth of 7 per cent in India at 13,24,823 units, compared to the 14,25,356 two-wheelers retailed during the same month last year. However, in MoM sales, the segment grew by 10 per cent, against the 12,07,258 two-wheelers sold in February 2019. Passenger vehicle segment, on the other hand, saw a decline of 10 per cent with 2,42,708 units, as opposed to the 2,69,176 cars retailed in March 2018, however, compared to the 2,31,512 units sold in February 2019, the segment grew by 5 per cent in MoM sales.

As for commercial vehicle segment, the CV space saw the highest YoY decline of 12 per cent with retails accounting for 61,896 units in March 2019, compared to the 70,203 CVs sold during the same month in 2018. That said, MoM growth against the 60,769 units sold in February 2019, was a marginal 2 per cent. The three-wheeler segment, on the other hand declined by 6 per cent last month, with 53,229 units, against the 56,803 units sold in March 2018, while MoM sales grew by 3 per cent, compared to 51,463 three-wheelers sold in February 2019.

Commenting on the bold step taken by several OEMs to reduce production to control growing dealer inventory FADA said that, "Inventory reduction by way of Production cut is a painful decision for all stake holders, especially OEM's and that too in a growing market like India and I am thankful to our Principals for understanding the pain and pressure that Auto Dealers were going through with Historically High Inventory and that too in such a Tight Liquidity Situation. FADA appreciates and applauds the bold steps taken by majority of OEMs for regulating production to current demand and helping dealers in reducing inventory."

Commenting further FADA President said, "We at F A D A believe that the worst for Auto Industry is now behind us and expect Plateauing of the declining Demand and expect Sales to Stabilise in their Current Normal Range for the next 4-6 weeks till India's biggest democratic Festival, The Elections, Conclude and we head towards the onset of the monsoon."