Two-wheeler sales in October hit a two-year high with more than 1.5 million vehicles sold across the country.
According to vehicle retail data by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), two-wheeler sales in October stood at 15,71,165, the highest monthly sale since March 2020.
In March 2020, 18,47,314 two-wheelers were sold primarily due to the transition of vehicles from BS4 to BS6 when OEMs offered special prices.
“There was single-digit growth over the last two months. In October, a 51 per cent growth was reported in every segment. The demand was not just witnessed at the premium segment but also in the entry-level two-wheeler segment with good schemes offered by OEMs at 10 per cent of vehicle value,” said Manish Raj Singhania, President of FADA. FADA has more than 15,000 automobile dealers as its members across India.
With sales coming back to pre-Covid levels, an uptick in demand for two-wheelers from the rural areas was also witnessed in October.
“A combination of positive factors, including pent-up demand, a mega festival month Dussehra + Dhanteras + Diwali in the same month, increased EV sales, and upbeat Tire 3/Tire 4 demand due to robust monsoon in many states seems to be responsible for driving sales. Many rural markets saw double-digit YoY growth over last festival season,” said Atul Jairaj, Director, Consulting, Deloitte India.
Moving forward
The industry is anticipating the demand for two-wheelers to increase in the coming months.
“We are optimistic with the rural economy picking up due to crop harvest, the wedding season, and elections happening in the states we are hoping the growth trend will continue,” said Singhania.
An uptick in demand is also being anticipated with new two-wheeler launches, “The slightly higher retail numbers (15.7L) over wholesale/dealer dispatches (14.9L) in Oct-22 august well for increased dispatches over next few months. However, given the anticipation for new launches combined with continued macro-economic uncertainties around inflation, the industry needs to continue being cautiously optimistic,” added Jairaj.