Car & 2-wheeler sales crawl in April, commercial vehicles stall

New Delhi: Vehicle registrations in India grew by 3% to 2.29 million units in April as two-wheeler and passenger vehicle segments recorded modest increases while commercial vehicle registrations declined.

Registrations or retail sales of two-wheelers and passenger vehicles grew by 2.3% and 1.6% to over 1.68 million units and 349,939 units respectively. Three-wheelers and tractors fared comparatively better, posting growth of 24.5% and 7.6% to 99,766 and 60,915 units respectively, showed data collated by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) from the VAHAN portal of the road ministry. Retail sales of commercial vehicles though, fell by 1% to 90,558 units in April.

"With the tariff war paused, stock markets staged a sharp pullback-alleviating investor concerns-and customers thus leveraged Chaitra Navratri, Akshay Tritiya, Bengali New Year, Baisakhi and Vishu to complete purchases, helping April end on a positive note," said C S Vigneshwar, president, FADA.


In the two-wheeler segment, the demand environment remained stable despite mixed headwinds. "Dealers reported buoyant enquiry growth in rural areas post Rabi harvest, driven by strong crop yields, healthy reservoir levels and a favourable monsoon outlook. Wedding-season tailwinds (also) sustained rural offtake," said Vigneshwar, adding that demand also remained robust in urban areas.

Despite limited new model introductions, passenger vehicle sales grew at a modest pace, backed by discounts and promotional offers. While demand remained healthy for SUVs, entry-level car buyers remained cautious. Dealers urged automakers to align production with market demand and reduce stock levels to mitigate deeper discounts and carrying costs at dealerships.

During the month, sales of commercial vehicles continued to be under pressure amid product price increases, stagnant freight rates, and low fleet utilisation.

The segment however saw healthy demand from school transport and staff mobility customers.

Vigneshwar said the agricultural cycle this month is expected to conclude on a strong note, supported by healthy crop prices and robust mandi procurement.

"The IMD's forecast of an above-normal Southwest monsoon bodes well for rural incomes, farm-sector growth and downstream demand", he said, adding that a well-distributed rainy season is critical to containing food inflation.

As per Kantar's Rural Barometer and GroupM data, household spending has outpaced income growth, and inflationary pressures are tempering discretionary purchases. This is impacting sales of non-essential items, FADA said.