PV RETAIL SALES DIP 4.6% IN JAN

NEWDELHI: Retail sales of passenger vehicles fell 4.61% year-onyear in January to 290,879 units, showed data issued by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada) on Thursday.

Manufacturers typically witness subdued sales in January as they tend to witness robust sales in December aided by heavy discounts to clear year-end stocks.

The decline in retail sales in January, which comes on a low year-earlier base, reflects persistent unease in consumer sentiment and sluggish economic growth.

Showroom sales for twowheelers and commercial vehicles also declined, indicating that the demand slump in the automobile sector is far from over.

For the second consecutive month, the industry had witnessed a decline in showroom sales, after a marginal recovery in October and November, when automakers offered record discounts to woo customers during the festive season.

Most manufacturers posted a drop in wholesales, or factory dispatches, in January despite controlling their inventory of Bharat Stage-IV (BS-VI) inventory, as they prepared for a gradual increase in dispatches of BS-VI compliant vehicles in the run-up to the April 1, 2020 deadline.

According to data released by the Society of Indian Automobiles Manufacturers (Siam), wholesales of passenger vehicles fell 6.2% year-on-year in January to 262,714 units.

Ashish Harsharaj Kale, president, Fada said automobile sales continued to be in the negative territory in January, barring three-wheelers, as several consumers are still to freeze their purchasing decisions amid the transition from BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms, he added.