It was Shubh Navratri for automobile industry in India, vehicle sales zoomed by 57 per cent

Overall auto retail sales saw a massive jump of 57 per cent during the recently concluded Navratri period as compared to that of the last year, data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) on Monday revealed.

New Delhi: Overall auto retail sales saw a massive jump of 57 per cent during the recently concluded Navratri period as compared to that of the last year, data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) on Monday revealed.

All categories also showed high growth with two-wheelers, three-wheelers, commercial vehicles (CV), passenger vehicles (PV) and tractors increasing by 52 per cent, 115 per cent, 48 per cent, 70 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively. "For the first time, FADA is releasing Navratri auto retail figures. When compared to Navratri 2019 (which was prior to Covid), total retails increased by 16 per cent. Here too, all categories showed positive momentum with 2W, 3W, CV, PV and tractors growing by 4 per cent, 31 per cent, 37 per cent, 59 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively," said Manish Raj Singhania, President, FADA.

Navratri was celebrated between September 26 and October 5 this year. "Navratri retails clearly shows that customers were back in showrooms with all guns blazing after a gap of three years. In fact, 2W category which was continuously showing weakness when compared to pre-Covid months, also registered a single-digit growth," Singhania added. Industry insiders feel the trend is likely to continue in the ongoing festive period.

"We now hope that this trend continues till Deepawali, so that apart from PV dealers who will see a decade-high during this festive, the 2W dealers also have a good season and hence helps them liquidate their stock which they have built in anticipation of a good festive," Singhania opined.

The data does not have figures from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Lakshadeep and Telangana. Vehicle retail data has been collated as on October 2022 in collaboration with the ministry of road transport & highways and has been gathered from 1,339 out of 1,411 RTOs.

A total of 5,39,227 units were sold during Navratri as against 3,42,459 units sold during the auspicious nights period last year. A total of 3,69,020 two-wheelers were sold in this year's Navratri as against 2,42,213 units sold in Navratri 2021. A little more than while 1,10,500 passenger vehicles were sold during this time as compared to its 64,850 in Navratri 2021. (ANI)