Auto retail sales soar to record high in Nov

New Delhi: Automobile retail sales in India rose to a record high in November, aided by the best ever monthly performance across passenger vehicle and two-wheeler segments, dealers’ body FADA said on Wednesday.

The overall retail sales stood at 28,54,242 units last month, 18 per cent higher over 24,09,535 units in November 2022. Passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales rose to 3,60,431 units as compared to 3,07,550 units in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 17 per cent. Similarly, two-wheeler registrations rose by 21 per cent last month to 22,47,366 units from 18,56,108 units in November last year. “November ‘23 has become a historic month for the Indian auto retail industry as 28.54 lakh vehicles were sold, thus overtaking the previous high of March ‘20 when the industry sold 25.69 lakh vehicles,” Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) President Manish Raj Singhania said in a statement.

Two-wheeler and passenger vehicle segments created new records last month, he added. The two-wheeler segment saw sales of 22.47 lakh vehicles, an increase of 1.77 lakh vehicles compared to the previous high of March 2020, while the passenger vehicle category also sold 3.6 lakh units, over 4,000 units more when compared to the previous high of October 2022, Singhania said. He noted that PV sales last month were fuelled by Deepawali and the launch of new and appealing models. The improved supply chains, coupled with new launches, effectively catered to the festive demand, marking the peak point in sales, Singhania said. However, the period following the festivities saw a noticeable slowdown, coupled with a critical challenge of slow-moving inventory due to a mismatch in demand and supply, which is still not resolved, he added.