Despite passenger car sales in terms of despatches by manufacturers showing growth in January this year, car registrations, a stronger indicator of retail sales showed a decline in the given month, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) on Wednesday, February 10.
According to the data on passenger car registration or retail sales in January this year, the total figure came to 281,661 units, down 4.46 percent from the corresponding month of the previous year.
Registration of all categories of automobiles - passenger cars, commercial vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers and tractors - was recorded at 1.593 million units in January this year, down 9.96 percent year on year.
“After witnessing a one-off growth in registration in December 2020, January automobile registration fell once against by about 10 percent. The auto industry clearly misjudged the demand which returned post-lockdown,” Vinkesh Gulati, president of FADA, said.
“Industry underestimation of the post-Covid rebound along with chipmakers prioritizing higher volumes and the more lucrative consumer electronics industry has created a vacuum for semi-conductors and resulted in a shortage in supply for all categories of vehicles especially passenger cars even though enquiry levels were high,” he said.