October retails for auto dealers down 5% YoY; worst festive season in decade, says FADA

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) on Thursday said it was the worst festive season for auto dealers in a decade. The FADA said the two-wheeler sales were down 18 percent, passenger vehicles by 26 percent, and tractors by 23 percent in the 42-day festive season

As per FADA, October retails were down 5 percent on a year-on-year basis and it was down 27 percent compared to October 2019.

The FADA stated that three-wheeler sales were up 53 percent and commercial vehicles by 10 percent in the festive season.

FADA said the semi-conductor shortage in passenger vehicles and low demand for two-wheelers impacted the sentiment. There has been a backlog of bookings in the passenger vehicles segment, it noted.

"We have witnessed the worst festive season in the last decade. Semi-conductor shortage which was already a full-blown crisis showed its true colours when in spite of above healthy demand, we could not cater to customer’s needs as SUV, Compact-SUV and luxury categories witnessed huge shortage of vehicles. On the other hand, entry-level cars saw subdued demand as customers in this category continued to conserve money due to their families healthcare needs," FADA President Vinkesh Gulati said.