Car and SUV sales during Navratri up 59% over 2019 – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Auto retail sales zoomed to record levels in the festive Navratri and Dussehra period, surging past the pre-pandemic numbers for the first time, with the rush coming in despite inflationary pressures and rising interest rates.
The growth, which comes amidst easing of semiconductor crunch, was spread across categories, ranging from personal vehicles such as cars, SUVs, and two-wheelers, to commercial vehicles, three-wheelers, and tractors.
Total auto sales between all the vehicle categories during the ten-day period — through nine days of Navratri and Dussehra — were up 16% at 5.39 lakh units against 4.66 lakh in the pre-pandemic 2019 period, and the same was up 57% over the 3.42 lakh units sold last year, according to numbers released by Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA).

“We are enthused by the retail demand, and expect the trend to continue in the run-up to the Diwali period,” FADA president Manish Raj Singhania said.
In cars and SUVs, sales during the period were up 59% over the 2019 numbers. Mainstream companies such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Maruti have seen strong demand, which has also been equally strong for luxury makers such as Mercedes-Benz.
The demand in passenger vehicles is led by SUVs such as Mahindra’s Scorpio-N and XUV7OO, Tata’s Nexon, Maruti’s Grand Vitara, and Kia’s Carens.
A comeback of personal mobility post the pandemic has seen demand stay exceptionally strong in the past one-and-a-half years as people are buying vehicles due to fears around coronavirus and also due to the need for social distancing.
Retail of passenger vehicles in the ten-day period stood at 1.1 lakh vehicles this year, higher by 59% over 69,657 units sold in Navratri of 2019 and up 71% over 64,850 units sold in the same period last year.
“We hope the industry to close this year at record levels as demand continues to remain strong on new models and growth in private car consumption,” Shashank Srivastava, director (marketing & sales) at Maruti Suzuki said.
For two-wheelers, the growth was relatively subdued, but still ending in the positive territory. Sales of motorcycles and scooters in this year’s Navratri period were up 4% (at 3.69 lakh units) over the same period in 2019 (3.55 lakh units), while being up 52% over 2021 numbers which were at 2.42 lakh units.