Retail Sales in the Automobile Sector Increased in May

Retail sales in the automobile sector increased in the month of May, but still, its pace is slow. According to the data available with the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), an organization of the auto industry, 16,46,773 vehicles were sold last month. At the same time, 5,36,795 units were sold in the same period last year. The sales were about 10 percent lower as compared to the month of May 2019 before Covid.

Automobile manufacturing factories in India give wholesale dispatch figures, but do not give details of retail sales made to customers. Hence the number of registrations is used as a proxy. Giving information, President of FADA, Vinkesh Gulati informed that on a low basis as retail sales in May 2020 and May 2021, registrations across categories increased last month, which was lower due to the first and second wave of the pandemic.

He said, “The Indian auto industry continued its performance for the third consecutive month during May 2022. While YoY comparison with May 2021 shows an exceptionally healthy growth rate across categories, it is noted that It is important to note that both May 2021 and May 2020 were affected by the nationwide lockdown due to covid. So a better comparison would be with May 2019 which was a normal pre-covid month."