New Delhi: Retail auto sales rose by 12.94% year-on-year to 26.11 lakh units in April led by strong demand for passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and tractors in rural India, as per industry data released on Tuesday.
Passenger vehicle retails in April jumped by 12.21% to 4,07,355 units. This is the best-ever number for the month of April in any year. Growth in rural India stood at 20.40%, nearly three times over the urban pace of 7.11%, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) data showed.
This confirms the structural broadening of personal mobility into Tier-3 and rural India, supported by a small-car revival, sustained SUV demand and a richer alternative-powertrain product mix where CNG share held firm at 22.62% and EV share improved further to 5.77%, said FADA Vice President Sai Giridhar.
Bengaluru: Are EV charging stations equipped for heat?Dealers cited improved affordability post-GST 2.0, the Reserve Bank of India's supportive rate stance which has translated into stronger EMI comfort, and a healthy marriage-season pipeline as the principal demand drivers during the month.
Passenger vehicle inventory levels rose to 28-30 days, marginally higher than previous month.
Five of six categories registered best-ever April month performance. Two-wheelers segment registered 13.01% growth, three-wheelers 7.19%, commercial vehicles 15.02% and tractors 23.22% year-on-year growth.
However, retail sale of construction equipment in April was 2.25% lower when compared with the same month last year.
However, on a month-on-month basis there was a decline. The overall automobile retail sales in April were 3.01% lower than the previous month.
Giridhar said the sequential decline in sales was the reflection of the customary post-March seasonal reset rather than any erosion in underlying demand.
Majority of the dealers remain optimistic about the near-term outlook, with 55.60% of dealers expecting growth, 35.38% anticipating flat performance, and only 9.03% foreseeing a decline.
Demand in May is expected to be supported by the extended marriage season that peaks through May and June, residual buying triggered by Akshaya Tritiya in select northern and western markets, the new financial-year OEM scheme cycle and sustained replacement demand in the CV segment, FADA said in a statement.
On three-month outlook (May, June and July), dealer confidence remains broadly steady, with 50.90% of dealers now expecting growth - marginally higher than the 49.81% growth expectation recorded in the previous survey for April-June period.
"This suggests that the dealer community continues to view the underlying demand pulse as intact even as it factors in the customary seasonal lull that typically sets in between the conclusion of the marriage season and the onset of the festive build-up," FADA said.