Match supplies with demand: FADA to vehicle makers

Chennai, Oct 4 The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) hopes for a higher demand for passenger vehicles this month and have requested the vehicle makers to match their supplies.

"The month of October will see Auto Retail on high grounds with 24 days of festive season out of the total 31 days. Dealers anticipate this to be the best festive in a decade for the PV (passenger vehicle) segment as we anticipate even higher sales during the month," FADA said.

With the supplies of semiconductors easing, FADA requests the vehicle makers to match their supplies with the demand.

According to FADA, the enquiry level in the two-wheeler segment is showing positive movement.

Commenting on last month's vehicle sales, FADA President Manish Raj Singhania said the retail sector grew by 11 per cent

When compared with September 2019, a pre-Covid month, total vehicle retails continued to fall by four per cent but narrowed the gap from previous months.

The passenger vehicle segment continues to show extremely healthy figures by growing 44 per cent, three-wheelers, tractor and commercial vehicles also closed in green with an increase of six per cent, 37 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

The two-wheeler segment is yet to show signs of any revival as it remains a drag by falling as much as 14 per cent.

According to FADA, the price hike by two-wheeler makers and Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) interest rate hikes made vehicle loans expensive.

"While India (urban areas) is showing revival signs, Bharat (rural areas) are yet to perform. 2W (two-wheelers), especially entry level vehicles are finding extremely less buyers thus dragging the entire segment," FADA said.

The three-wheeler segment continues to see structural shift from internal combustion engine to electric vehicle (EV). This is also reflected in extremely healthy growth rate of e-rickshaws.

Apart from better availability of vehicles with full range products, including alternate fuels, customers have started using public transport and rickshaw service thus fuelling demand in this segment.

In the commercial vehicles segment, the government's infrastructure development push, bulk fleet purchase resulted in heavy commercial vehicle segment logging 40 per cent growth last month. The segment grew by 19 per cent last month.

The passenger vehicle segment logged 10 per cent growth last month over September 2021 figures and 44 per cent as compared to the pre-covid September 2019 numbers.

Better availability due to easing semiconductor supply, new launches and feature rich products kept customers glued to dealerships for getting their favourite vehicles during the auspicious period.

The waiting period continues to range between three to 24 months, especially for sport utility vehicles (SUV) and compact SUVs.