FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations), the industry’s apex body, revealed retail sales figures for five vehicle categories – two and three-wheelers, passenger vehicles, tractors, and commercial vehicles – for November 2022. Cumulative sales of 23,80,465 units, a 26% increase year on year (November 2021: 18,93,647 units), have established a new monthly standard. This equates to 79,349 vehicles sold across sectors on each and every day of November.
The November retails are a 13.65% month-on-month increase on festive October 2022’s numbers and a 65% increase over January 2022’s 1.43 million units (see data table below). FADA President Manish Raj Singhania said, “November 2022 has clocked highest retails in the history of the Indian automobile industry with March 2020 (23,12,868 units) as an exception when retails were higher due to BS-4 to BS-6 transition.”
November retails have taken off from festive October 2022 (2.09 million units / 26%), which was part of the 42-festive season which had begun in September. According to the FADA president, the continuing sales momentum is also thanks to the “Great Indian Wedding Season (from November 14 to December 14) where around 32 lakh weddings will be solemnised across the country.”
The fact that growth is democratising across all five categories bodes well for the coming year: PVs (up 21%), two-wheelers (up 24%), three-wheelers (80%), CVs (up 33%), and tractors (up 57%). All vehicle segments except two-wheelers (marginal loss of -0.9%) are in growth territory compared to pre-Covid November 2019.
Passenger Vehicle Retails in 2022
Jan 2022: 14,39,747 units / -10.69%
Feb 2022: 13,74,516 units / -9.21%
Mar 2022: 16,19,181 units / -2.87%
April 2022: 16,27,975 units / 37.06%
May 2022: 16,46,773 units / 206%
June 2022: 15,50,855 units / 27.16%
July 2022: 14,36,927 units / -7.84%
Aug 2022: 15,21,490 units / 8.31%
Sep 2022: 14,64,001 units / 10.94%
Oct 2022: 20,94,378 units / 47.62%
Nov 2022: 23,80,465 units / 25.71%
Total YTD retail sales: 1,81,56,308 units
What is encouraging for the sector as a whole is that commercial vehicles, which are regarded as the country’s economic barometer, are returning to growth mode.
YoY growth in the LCV, MCV, and HCV sub-segments is a significant 33% and 6%, respectively, compared to pre-Covid November 2019. A closer examination of the data reveals that all three sub-segments have experienced double-digit growth, which bodes well for the coming months and beyond. The huge government investment in infrastructure development across the country is having an impact, as evidenced by the 61% increase in HCV sales to 25,035 units.
Intra-city logistics operating demand is also reflected in the 4,776 MCVs sold last month, a 51% increase, while the hub-and-spoke model and last-mile mobility firms continue to drive LCV sales, which include small CVs and pickups – 46,836 units, a 22.61% increase. If there is a growth story with enormous potential, especially in light of the change to electrification, it is the three-wheeler market, which is experiencing the fastest growth rate.
In November 2022, 74,473 units were sold, representing an increase of 80% year over year (November 2021: 41,296). Of this, 48% – 35,791 units – are electric three-wheelers, indicating the direction the three-wheeler market is headed. Electric passenger models (33,971 units / 113% growth) outnumber cargo-carrying vehicles (1,820 units / 75% growth). And this expansion has come at the expense of IC-powered devices, with all sub-segments here in the red by double digit percentages.
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