Vehicle retail sales in the country rose 57 per cent during the Navratri festival this year, clocking a record sale of nearly 5.4 lakh units, PTI reported, quoting Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) data.
The report said that the total vehicle retail sales between September 26 and October 5, 2022, stood at 5,39,227 units, compared to 3,42,459 units sold during Navratri last year.
The sales registered this year were also a record, bettering the previous best of 4,66,128 units in Navratri of 2019, it added.
Navratri sales show that customers are back in showrooms after a gap of three years, FADA President Manish Raj Singhania said.
According to FADA data, two-wheeler retail sales during this year's Navratri totaled 3,69,020 units, up from 2,42,213 units during the same period last year, representing a 52.35 per cent increase. Compared to 3,55,851 units clocked in the Navratri of the pre-Covid year 2019 the two-wheeler sales growth was 3.7 per cent.
Similarly, passenger vehicle sales during this year's Navratri stood at 1,10,521 units against 64,850 units last year, a growth of 70.43 per cent, FADA said.
Commercial vehicle retail also grew by 48.25 per cent to 22,437 units from 15,135 units sold in Navratri last year.
In addition, sales in the three-wheeler category stood at 19,809 units in Navratri this year compared to 9,203 units last year. Tractor sales also jumped 57.66 per cent to 17,440 units from 11,062 units sold in Navratri 2021.
Meanwhile, the overall retail sales of electric vehicles (EVs), including passenger vehicles, in the country surged nearly 185 per cent year-on-year to 1,11,971 units in October, compared to 39,329 units in October 2021, FADA said.
The total passenger EV sales rose 178 per cent to 3,745 units in October 2022, as opposed to 1,346 PEVs retailed in the same month a year ago. The sales of electric commercial vehicles grew 125.64 per cent to 274 units.
Electric two-wheeler sales in October 2022 stood at 73,169 units as compared to 19,826 units in the same month of 2021, registering a year-on-year growth of 269.06 per cent. Electric three-wheeler sales jumped 92.87 per cent to 34,793 units as compared with 18,040 units in October 2021.