Vehicle registrations dip 30% in FY21
Over 15 mn vehicles were registered in 2020-21, the lowest in last 8 years: Fada
NEW DELHI: The total vehicle registrations in India fell by 29.85% to 15,271,519 units in 2020-21, the lowest in the last eight years, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said on Monday.
Total vehicle registrations were at 21,768,502 units in 2019-20.
All categories of vehicles, except tractors were in red in 2020-21 with two-wheelers, three-wheelers, commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles falling by 31.51%, 64.12%, 49.05% and 13.96%, respectively—the lowest in last eight years and way below the 2012-13 levels, Fada said in a statement.
Passenger vehicles registrations were at 2,386,316 units, as against 2,773,514 units in 2019-20, down 13.96%, while those of two-wheelers dipped 31.51% to 11,533,336 units as compared to 16,838,965 units in the previous fiscal.
Three-wheeler registrations in 2020-21 were down 64.12% at 258,174 units, as compared to 719,594 units in 2019-20, while commercial vehicle registrations were at 448,914 units as against 881,114 units, a decline of 49.05%, Fada said.
Tractor registrations, however, grew by 16.11% last fiscal at 644,779 units as compared to 555,315 units in 2019-20, it added.
As for April 2021, Fada said since India was under complete lockdown in April 2020 and not a single vehicle could be sold, a year-on-year comparison is not possible. When compared to the previous month of March, Fada said in April 2021 total vehicle registrations were down 28.15% at 1,185,374 units versus 1,649,678 units.
Passenger vehicle registrations were down 25.33% at 208,883 units in April, as against 279,745 units in March this year, while those of two-wheelers declined by 27.63% at 865,134 units, as against 1,195,445 in the previous month, it added.
Registrations of commercial vehicles were at 51,436 units in April as compared to 67,372 units in March, down 23.65%. Tractor registrations also witnessed a dip of 44.58% last month at 38,285 units, as compared to 69,082 units in March this year, the automotive dealers body said.
Commenting on the current situation, Fada President Vinkesh Gulati said, “India is currently facing one of its toughest times with the second wave of Covid creating havoc in everyone’s life. This time, the spread is not only limited to urban markets but has also taken rural India in its grasp.” Auto registrations in April witnessed doubledigit fall as most of the Indian states started going under lockdown, partial as well as full, beginning April 5 onwards, he added.
“Unlike last year, the lockdown this time around has been imposed by state governments and not the Central government. Due to this, there have been no relief announcements which have come out till now either by the Center or the RBI and auto Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs),” Gulati said.
Asking automobile manufacturers to handhold their dealers the way they did last year during the first phase of the pandemic, he said the current “situation is very grim in most states and dealer principals as well as their teams are fighting for their survival from Covid”.
“Fada also requests OEMs to not burden dealers with high billings in all the states where lockdown has been announced,” Gulati said, while also asking the government “to come out with a financial package, the way they did last year”.
He said, “We also request the RBI to come out with guidelines/ notifications for relaxation of loan repayment equivalent to the number of days of lockdown each state has announced.”