Automobile dealers' body FADA on Monday said passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in July declined by 25.19 percent to 1,57,373 units as compared to the same month last year as coronanvirus pandemic continued to impact vehicle offtakes. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which collected vehicle registration data from 1,235 out of the 1,445 regional transport offices (RTOs), PV sales stood at 2,10,377 units in July 2019.
Two-wheeler sales declined 37.47 percent to 8,74,638 units last month as compared to 13,98,702 units in July 2019. Commercial vehicle sales declined 72.18 percent to 19,293 units as compared to 69,338 units in July 2019. Three-wheeler sales declined by 74.33 percent to 15,132 units last month as compared with 58,940 units in July 2019.
Total sales across categories declined 36.27 percent to 11,42,633 units last month as against 17,92,879 units in the year-ago month.
Commenting on the July retail sales, FADA President Ashish Harsharaj Kale said as the country continues to open up, last month saw better registrations compared to June, though on a year on year basis auto sector recovery is yet to be seen anywhere near normal.
Current market conditions are still not indicative of the actual demand situation on an all India level and retails continue to de-grow in huge double digit despite the low base of last year, he noted. Rural market though continues to show strong sales growth for tractor, small commercial vehicles and motorcycle segments as monsoon continues its good spell, Kale said.
Banks and NBFCs though flush with high liquidity are still having a cautious approach towards funding auto retail affecting the demand revival especially in commercial vehicle, three wheeler and two wheeler segments, he added.
"FADA once again appeals to the government to announce demand boosting policies as this will ensure speedier revival of auto sector. The industry eagerly awaits incentive based scrappage policy and this will provide great fillip to medium and heavy commercial vehicles sales," Kale noted.
On sales outlook for August, he said if there were no further lockdowns, especially in auto manufacturing hubs, the outlook for the month is positive in comparison to July.
The full year outlook however continues to remain negative with a projected de-growth in retail sales in the range of 15-35 percent across various segments except tractors which looks set to clock a positive annual growth, Kale said.
As per FADA data, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) continued to lead domestic passenger vehicle retails in July with 50.4 percent market share. It was followed by Hyundai Motor India (18.69 percent), Tata Motors (8.1 percent), Mahindra & Mahindra (4.96 percent), Kia Motors (4.45 pc), Renault (3.18 percent), ToyotaKirloskar Motor (2.79 percent) and Honda Cars (2.1 percent).
In two wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp was at the top position with a market share of 40.66 percent followed by Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (23.03 percent), TVS Motor Company (14.19 percent) and Bajaj Auto (10.68 percent). Mahindra led the commercial vehicle segment with 46.29 percent market share followed by Tata Motors (21.03 percent) and Ashok Leyland (8.39 percent).
