NL Corresspondent
Jammu Tawi: The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) today released Vehicle Retail Data for September’24.FADA President, C S Vigneshwar, shared his perspective on the auto retail performance for September 2024, stating, “The 2024 southwest monsoon recorded 8% above-normal rainfall—the highest in four years—which has boosted Kharif sowing by 1.5% YoY. This increase in agricultural productivity has positively impacted rural demand and economic sentiment.Despite the onset of festivals such as Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam, Dealers have reported that the performance has been largely stagnant. This suggests that overall market sentiment during these festive periods has been underwhelming, with a trend leaning towards flat or negative growth.TheShraddh period further impacted sales negatively, leading to a YoY decline in retail sales across various categories. Discounts and offers have been introduced across segments to stimulate demand, but these have yet to translate into a significant improvement in sales.September saw a decline in overall retail sales, dropping by 9.26% YoY. Except for 3W and Trac, which grew by 0.66% and 14.69% YoY respectively, other categories such as 2W, PV and CV fell by 8.51%, 18.81%, and 10.45% YoY, respectively.Seasonal factors such as Shraddh and Pitrapaksha, coupled with heavy rainfall and a sluggish economy, have exacerbated the situation, leaving Dealers with historically high inventory levels of 80-85 days—equivalent to 7.9 lakh vehicles worth ₹79,000 crore.Given the critical festive season around the corner, FADA urges OEMs to take immediate corrective measures to avoid a financial setback. FADA also calls on the Reserve Bank of India to issue an advisory to banks, mandating stricter channel funding policies based only on Dealer consent and on actual collateral, to prevent Dealers from facing additional financial pressure due to unsold stock. This is the final opportunity for PV OEMs to recalibrate and support market recovery before it’s too late!”
