Auto retail registers growth in November, FADA optimistic for sales in December

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) released the monthly vehicle registration data for the month of November 2019. For the month the industry saw cumulative retail sales of 2,105,508 units, a growth of 2 percent YoY, and a robust 23 percent growth over October 2019.

In November, the two-wheeler sales were at 1,705,495 units (+28% MoM), three-wheelers at 65,348 units (+10% MoM), CVs at 77,394 units (+15% MoM) and passenger vehicles at 257,271 units (+4% MoM).

Commenting on the retail sales data, , Ashish Harsharaj Kale, president, FADA said, “the delay in agriculture produce in the markets have helped auto retail see an uptick in demand from the semi-urban and rural markets."

FADA added that the dealer inventory remained more or less at the same levels in both two-wheeler and PV segments and inventory in CV category was reduced by around 5 days.

Speaking on the potential impact of the BS VI transition, Kale added that, “Going ahead, with our OEMs further reducing wholesale billing, the probabilities of negative financial impact further reduces for the dealer community as the indian auto industry heads into the technology leap of BS IV to BS VI in such an uncertain and dynamic demand situation.”

They however, remain hopeful of a positive tick in December too, “automobiles sales which is considered the barometer of a country’s economic situation, along with the continued strong advocacy by the government for aggressive retail credit by the BFSI’s, FADA is hopeful of a 3rd month of positive retail growth in December and further inventory reduction, to end the calendar year on a positive note.”

Despite growth in auto retail sales for last two-months FADA says the liquidity and credit confidence both for retail customers as well as dealers is still not near the "normal levels required for sustained growth with the banking and finance industry still at the cross roads of business aggression and business caution, despite strong advocacy of  retail  credit growth by the government."

The auto body says it will also work towards ensuring zero financial loss to its members in such challenging times.