The total vehicle registrations for the month of April have plunged by 28% month-on-month as compared to March, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). All categories declined with passenger vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, commercial vehicles falling by 25%, 28%, 43% and 24% respectively.
As far as FY20-21 is concerned, the vehicle registrations were down by 30%, which represents an eight-year low.
FADA said in a statement that the first nine days of May have seen extremely lean sales due to lockdown announced by the majority of states. Considering the rising number of cases, one can expect the peak in terms of infections for India on a whole could be at least a fortnight away. Even where dealerships are open, the walk-ins have dropped to 30% and customers are delaying their purchase decision, it added.
“The just-concluded elections in states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, movement of migrant workers back to states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar can keep the curve rising. Overall, FADA maintains absolute sluggishness for the month of May as most of the states have announced extension of lockdown till the end of the month,” the statement added.
FADA said that the second wave of Covid has not only unsettled urban but also the rural markets this time around. Hence, recovery looks like it will take a longer time when compared to recovery which came after the first wave.
“Unlike last year, the lockdown this time around has been imposed by state governments and not the Central. Due to this, there have been no relief announcements which have come out till now either by the Centre or RBI and Auto OEMs,” said FADA President Vinkesh Gulati.