Festive season proved most disappointing for Auto sector: FADA

New Delhi, 18 Nov (KNN) As per the Vehicle Retail Data for October’21 and 42 days festive period by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) released today, the 2W category continues to have low sales, with the 3W category starting to witness usual demand and while entry level and SCV’s have already grown post unlocking and due to intra city goods movement.

Commenting on the performance of the industry, FADA President, Vinkesh Gulati said, “We have witnessed the worst festive season in last decade. Semi-conductor shortage which was already a full blown crises showed its true colours when in spite of an above healthy demand, we could not cater to customer’s need 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.

For the 2W category, rural distress in retails coupled with frequent price hikes, triple digit fuel prices and customers conserving funds for healthcare emergencies kept the demand low. In fact, walk-in’s and customer inquiries were also ultra-lean during the said period.

Further, buses as a category is yet to see any revival in demand, with normalcy returning in business, the 3W category has started to witness usual demand, said the release.

“This aided with extreme low base of last year, is also helping 3W post a healthy growth. It is noteworthy to mention that we are witnessing a tactical shift from ICE to EV’s as EV share in 3W has now crossed the 45% mark,” stated FADA.

The federation has requested 2W OEMs to rationalise inventory. It also urges to roll out attractive schemes for customers so that demand especially in the entry level category can be revived.

Charts showing Vehicle Retail Data: