Car sales continue to soar in December but two-wheelers remain big worry

Sales of passenger vehicles or PVs in the country in the month of December continued to perform better than in recent years, rising by eight per cent as against figures from December of 2021. Even put up against figures from pre-Covid December of 2019, last month's car retail figures were better. But the continuing struggles of the two-wheeler segment remains a big worry, as per data released by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA)on Thursday.

Sales of cars last month was up by 21 per cent as against December of 2019 while even the three-wheeler, tractor and commercial vehicle segments continued to fare better. Overall, however, auto retail was down by 12 per cent vis-a-vis December of 2019 and five per cent vis-a-vis December of 2021. The blame may be squarely put on muted demand for two wheelers which has been dragging the overall numbers down. FADA continues to highlight factors such as rise in inflation, increased cost of ownership and rural market yet to show an optimistic trend. Rise in electric vehicle (EV) sales too have been cited as a factor here. “The 2W segment once again failed to impress as retail sales during Dec’22 continued to fall after 2 good months," said Manish Raj Singhania, FADA President, in a press statement.

Singhania, however, also pointed to a big positive in the form of sustained demand for cars in the market. “The PV segment has continued to show remarkable consistency in growth during the entire year. While supply woes has decreased, better product spread and ever highest consumer offers have kept consumer interest on," he said.

FADA does also note that there remain some significant challenges moving forward. “Global geopolitical headwinds, tightening monetary policy and the lingering effect of the pandemic has combined to create a gloomy global outlook," a FADA press statement reads. “The RBI has also increased repo rate by 225 basis points since May’22."