Vehicle registrations down in Feb, fuel price hikes impact consumption: FADA

Vehicle registrations across the country dipped by more than 13% in February as compared to the same month of 2020 with registration of three-wheelers, commercial vehicles taking the maximum hit, as per Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA).

In a press statement realeased on Tuesday by FADA, registration of passenger vehicles rose 10.6% last month when compared to figures from February of 2020. There were 2.54 lakh registrations last month vis-a-vis 2.29 lakh in the same month a year ago. Tractor registrations also continued to provide some soothing balm and were up 18.89%, from 51,602 to 61,351 last month.

But that is pretty much where the good news ends.

Registration of two-wheelers, three-wheelers and commercial vehicles were all down in the last month. Three-wheelers and commercial vehicles were especially hard hit with a 49.65% decline for the former and 29.52 fall for the later.

Multiple reasons may be at play with FADA especially underlining the how fuel consumption is once again facing headwinds owing to recent price hikes. "Consumer spending, which is the driving force behind India's economy and accounting for 60 per cent of the GDP, fell 2.4 per cent showing signs of sluggishness," the FADA statement read. "This also reflects that consumers are still uncertain and worried about their income and cautious about spending."

Vinkesh Gulati shed light on other factors at play. "FADA survey showed that 50% dealers in passenger vehicles lost more than 20% sales due to non-availability of vehicles," he said, adding the global semiconductor outrage kept waiting period of PV as high as eight months.

Moving forward, FADA notes that high fuel prices will likely remain a key constraint, especially for two-wheelers and commercial vehicles. "India’s growth engine will only see full recovery depending on the pace of the world’s largest vaccination programme," the statement further highlighted.