New vehicle registration witnesses a decline of 28.71 per cent for 2Ws and 7.12 per cent for 4Ws

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has released the monthly vehicle registration data for the month of August 2020. It shows that the new vehicle registration has witnessed a decline of 28.71 per cent in August 2020 for two-wheelers with 8,98,775 vehicles as compared to 12,60,722 vehicles in August 2019. The same for three-wheelers is further down by 69.51 per cent with 16,857 vehicles in August 2020 as compared to 55,293 vehicles in August 2019. Commercial vehicles reported degrowth of 57.39 per cent whereas passenger vehicles saw a decline of 7.12 percent in August 2020 as compared to August 2019.

Commenting on the August 2020 performance, FADA President, Mr. Vinkesh Gulati stated, "With the start of Festival Season and the Government's continued effort to open up India, the month of August saw good numbers when compared to immediate previous months. August also saw an arrest in decline and pullback efforts on all fronts were visible, though on YoY, all categories except Tractors continued to fall, though at a slower pace. Passenger Vehicles after 5 months saw decline reducing to a single digit. Customers who were sitting on the fence, finally concluded their purchase during ongoing festivals of Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi. Entry-level Passenger Vehicles were in high demand as personal mobility is being preferred with current pandemic showing no signs of reduction."

FADA President, Mr. Vinkesh Gulati

He also added, "Apart from Rural Market which was showing revival signs until now, Urban Centres for the first time showed initial signs of demand pullback. With the Government's priority in spending towards rural development and agriculture, coupled with good monsoon and a healthy sowing season, Tractor, Small Commercial Vehicles and entry level Passenger Vehicles positively impacted August Sales. Overall demand is still not back to Pre-COVID levels as Banks and NBFCs continue to have a cautious approach towards funding. Commercial Vehicles, especially M&HCV category is still suffering from higher lead times with financers and an increase in cost of acquisition leading to viability issues. A stricter CIBIL score is also affecting customer finance. FADA once again requests the Government to announce demand boosting stimulus and awaits the announcement of a reduction in GST for 2-wheelers. We also await the much-required incentive-based scrappage policy. Both these measures will act as demand drivers for 2-wheelers and especially Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles sales in India thus once again making Auto Industry, a lead indicator for India's growth."