BENGALURU, March 6 (Reuters) - Retail sales of vehicles
in India jumped 16% to around 1.8 million units in February,
helped in part by strong demand during the wedding season, an
industry body of automobile dealers said on Monday, adding that
festivals could push the sales higher in March.
Sales have picked up in the last two months as chip
shortages eased and automakers launched new models to tap into
the demand ahead of the festival and wedding seasons. However,
rising interest rates amid elevated inflation are seen as a
sentiment dampener, with overall sales in February still below
pre-Covid levels.
Sales of two-wheelers advanced 15%, while those of
three-wheelers jumped 81%, passenger vehicles 11%, tractors 14%,
and commercial vehicles 17%, the Federation of Automobile
Dealers Associations (FADA) said in a statement.
Changes in emission norms from April, which would see
vehicle prices increase, and automakers rolling out promotional
offers in the final month of the fiscal year, should help push
sales higher in March, FADA added.
The industry body cited a slew of festivals, including the
two-day festival of colours - Holi, and regional new year
celebrations Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, for the demand in March.
FADA publishes retail sales data, while the Society of
Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which usually releases
data in the second week of the month, counts vehicles sold to
dealers.
Auto sales numbers are keenly watched, as they are one of
the key indicators to assess private consumption and carry more
than 50% weightage in calculating the country's economic growth.
Meanwhile, the industry body warned that predictions of a
return of El Niño weather conditions in the Pacific, which could
mean a weaker monsoon in India and result in lower output and
higher prices, may be a dampener for sales of commercial
vehicles.
Two of India's top three listed bike makers TVS Motor
Company and Hero MotoCorp beat domestic
sales estimates in February as chip supply shortages eased.
The three-wheeler segment continued to witness robust demand
after the government subsidies breached pre-pandemic levels for
the first time in February, FADA said.
(Reporting by Nishit Navin and Anisha Ajith in Bengaluru;
Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
anisha.ajith@thomsonreuters.com))
