Vehicle registrations hit a festive record

Vehicle registrations - a proxy for retail sales - increased by nearly a fifth to a record 3.8 million units this festive season amid robust consumer demand in the local market. As per data collated by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), as many as 3,793,584 vehicles were registered in the 42-day period between Navratri and Bhai Dooj, which is an increase of 19% over 3,195,213 units sold in this period in 2022.

FADA President Manish Raj Singhania said, "During the 42-day festive period of FY2023 (which starts on 1st day of Navratri and ends 15 days post Dhanteras), we reached a new milestone with vehicle sales climbing to 3.79 million units, a 19% increase from last year's 3.19 million units.”

Sales grew across categories rising by by 21%, 41%, 8% and 10% in the two-wheeler, three-wheeler, commercial vehicles and passenger vehicle segments, respectively. Sales of tractors fell marginally by 0.5% in this period. “Record-breaking sales were reported in several categories, with rural areas particularly contributing to the surge in two-wheeler purchases”, Singhania said.


Despite some initial setback during Navratri, particularly in the passenger vehicle sector, the situation improved by Deepawali. Sales of passenger vehicles grew by 10% this festive season, on back of demand for SUVs. Singhania added inventory levels for passenger vehicles, however, remain a significant concern as OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) continue to push further dispatch, thus keeping the inventory rate at near to all time high levels.

Tractors too saw a decline of 8.3% in sales during Navratri. But retail demand picked up subsequently. Sales in the segment declined marginally by 0.5% by the close of the festive period. “This turnaround highlights the robust purchasing power in rural India”, Singhania said.

For the entire period from Onam to Bhai Dooj, industry estimates as many as 11.38 lakh passenger vehicles were sold in the local market this year – an increase of 41% over 8.10 lakh units reported in the same period in 2022. This is the highest growth reported in the industry in festive sales in the last five years. Around 934,000 vehicles were previously sold at peak in the festive period in 2020. Demand at the time, however, was skewed due to lack of sales during the national lockdown at the onset of the pandemic.

The auto retail data for the 42-day period from Navratri to Bhai Dooj has been collated by FADA from the VAHAN portal of the Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways (MoRTH). The data covers vehicle registrations from 1,355 RTOs out of 1,442 RTOs in the country.