Indian auto industry clocks highest retail sales in November, says FADA

Indian auto industry clocked highest sales in its history in the month of November, witnessing a YOY growth of 26%. However, the month of March 2020 was an exception when retails were higher due to BS IV to BS VI transition. Last month saw all vehicle categories close in green - two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger vehicles, Trac and commercial vehicles, all of which witnessed a growth of 24%, 80%, 21%, 57% and 33% respectively.

The tremendous growth has been attributed to the positive run of festive sales and to the Great Indian Wedding Season from November 14 to December 14 where around 32 lakh weddings will be solemnised across the country, thus increasing the demand for vehicles.

When compared to November of 2019, which is a pre-Covid month, total vehicle retail closed in marginal positive territory with an increase of 1.5% except for the two-wheeler category. This segment saw a marginal dip of -0.9% while all the other categories were in green with three-wheelers, passenger vehicles, Trac and commercial vehicles growing by 4%, 5%, 61% and 6% respectively.

The two-wheeler segment is slowly turning the tides from negative to positive as the same can be witnessed from retail sales due to the ongoing wedding season. The three-wheeler segment showed a massive growth of 80% YoY and 4% when compared to 2019. This category which was witnessing low demand during covid has now emerged as the highest growing category due to positive sentiments and fear of lockdowns out of mind.

The personal vehicle segment witnessed a growth of 21% YoY and 5% when compared to 2019. This was buoyed by better availability of model mixes from past months, new launches and increase in rural demand. The segment is ruled by compact SUV and SUV category coupled with higher variant models.

The commercial vehicle industry witnessed a growth of 33% YoY and 6% compared to 2019.