According to FADA President Manish Raj Singhania, “the government’s push for infrastructure development has kept this market alive with a rise in demand for light commercial vehicles, large commercial vehicles, buses, and construction equipment.”
In New Delhi: According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), retail sales of all vehicles in India increased by 15.28 percent to 2,11,20,441 units in 2022, driven by record sales of tractors and passenger cars.
According to a statement from FADA, there were 1,83,21,760 automobiles sold in India in total at the retail level in 2021.
Retail sales of two-wheelers reached 1,53,88,062 units in 2018, an increase of 13.37 percent from 2021 when sales were at 1,35,73,682 units.
Retail sales of passenger cars (PV) increased 16.35% to 34,31,497 units in 2022 from 29,49,182 units in 2021, according to the report.
“For CY2022, while overall vehicle retails climbed by 15% year over year and by 17% compared to CY20, it failed to surpass CY19 retails, (a pre-Covid year), and registered a fall of 10%,” said FADA President Manish Raj Singhania. He stated, “With 34.31 lakh retail sales for the entire year, the PV category continues to rise throughout this time. By far, this is PV’s largest retail sales to date.” However, Manish Raj Singhania bemoaned that the two-wheeler market once more fell short of expectations as retail sales in December 2022 kept declining following two strong months.
“The ICE (internal combustion engine) two-wheeler segment is yet to see any green shoots,” the speaker continued. “Reasons like rise in inflation, increasing cost of ownership, increased EV sales, rural market still to catch up fully, and rising EV sales.”
Retail sales of commercial cars increased by 31.97% between 2021 and 2022, from 6,55,696 units to 8,65,344 units.
“Throughout the full calendar year 2022, the CV segment grew and is now nearly on level with retail sales for the same period. The government’s ongoing promotion of infrastructure development has kept this sector afloat thanks to an increase in demand for buses, construction equipment, heavy commercial vehicles (LCVs), and light commercial vehicles (HCVs) “Said Singhania.
He added that the three-wheeler market, which saw a severe decline during Covid, has fully recovered and has closed the gap with CY2019.
The electric rickshaw sub-segment within the segment is growing by triple digits, he continued, “driving the EV market share above the 50% mark.
In 2022, there were 6,40,559 three-wheeler retail units, up from 3,73,562 units in 2021, a 71.47 percent increase.
Apart from PV, Singhania claimed that the tractor segment was the only other one that experienced growth substantially above the 2021, 2020, and pre-Covid years of 2019 in terms of calendar years.
“Additionally, it has recorded sales of 7.94 lakh units, a lifetime high. This achievement was made possible by the constantly favourable monsoon, increased farmer cash flow, higher crop MSPs, and the government’s emphasis on better procurements “Added he.
In 2021, retail tractor sales totaled 7,69,638 units.
In addition, timely rabi crop seeding contributed to maintaining this momentum. According to Singhania, the strong momentum was also helped by holiday season sales that had returned to normal after three years.
According to FADA, overall vehicle retail sales in December 2022 decreased by 5.4% to 16,22,317 units from 17,14,942 units in the same month the previous year.
Retail sales of two-wheelers fell by 11.19% last month to 11,33,138 units from 12,75,894 units in December 2021, according to FADA.
Retail sales of passenger vehicles increased by 8.15 percent to 2,80,016 units from 2,58,921 units in December 2021, while sales of commercial vehicles increased by 10.67 percent to 66,945 units from 60,491 units.
Regarding the forecast, FADA stated that a combination of global geopolitical headwinds, tightened monetary policy, and the pandemic’s lasting effects have resulted in a dismal global picture.
“The usual price increases carried out by auto OEMs in December were also announced at the start of this year. In addition to this, the implementation of BS-VI phase II regulations will result in additional price increases across all categories “Auto OEMs should make special offers, it continued, in order to maintain the momentum of retail sales.
The fourth quarter of FY23, according to FADA, will continue to be cautious due to inflation pressure and impending changes to vehicle rules that would raise prices.