Auto Sales In Festive Season: Car Retail Sales Top Six-Lakh Mark In 42 Days

A record six lakh-plus cars were registered in India during the recently concluded festive season, against the backdrop of slowing sales in the world’s third largest automotive industry.

Still, total festive season sales fell short of expectations.

Car retail sales—or the number of registrations on the government’s VAHAN website—rose 7.10% year-on-year to 6,03,009 units in the 42 days of the 2024 festive season, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations on Friday.

The segment-wise sales are as under:

• Two-wheeler sales up 13.79% year-on-year at 33,11,325 units.

• Three-wheeler sales up 6.81% year-on-year at 1,59,960 units.

• Four-wheeler sales up 7.10% year-on-year at 6,03,009 units.

• Commercial-vehicle sales up 1.02% year-on-year at 1,28,738 units.

• Tractor sales down 1.64% year-on-year at 85,216 units.

According to FADA, the 42-day festive period extended from the first day of Navratri to 15 days after Dhanteras.

Overall, auto sales during the festive period rose 11.76% over last year’s 38.37 lakh units to 42.88 lakh units—still short of the expected 45 lakh units.

“While we celebrate these achievements, we acknowledge that we could have fully met or exceeded our targets of 45 lakh units if not for the unseasonal heavy rains in South India and a cyclone in the east,” FADA President CS Vigneshwar said in a statement.

The surge in festive-period sales may have reduced from inventory levels reported as on Oct. 31—7.5 lakh cars worth Rs 75,000 crore or 75-80 days of unsold stock—but FADA is still cautious, waiting for the full picture to emerge by the end of November.

“With 1.5 months remaining before the calendar year ends, FADA urges OEMs to focus on liquidating 2024 stock, so that dealers can enter 2025 with ideal, FADA-recommended 21 days of inventory,” Vigneshwar said.