Sales of passenger vehicles | Retail sales of passenger vehicles decreased by one percent in April, now 2.82 lakh

New Delhi: Retail sales of passenger vehicles in the country declined by one per cent last month. This is because buyers preferred to buy vehicles in March due to stricter emission norms coming into effect from April 1. The Federation of Vehicle Dealer Associations (FADA) gave this information on Thursday. Retail sales of passenger vehicles declined to 2,82,674 units in April 2023. In April 2022, it was 2,86,539 units. FADA President Manish Raj Singhania said in the statement, “The passenger vehicle segment had recorded record sales in 2022-23. But passenger vehicle sales have been down in April. This is mainly because of higher base effect last year and OBD2A norms which have made vehicles costlier and people prefer to buy vehicles in March instead of April.” Two-wheeler registrations declined by seven per cent to 12,29,911 units in April as against 13,26,773 units in the year-ago period. Read also Singhania attributed the drop in sales to the migration to OBD 2A, unseasonal rains and purchase preference in March. Singhania said, “The rural economy has not shown significant progress so far. Two-wheeler sales are still down by 19 per cent as compared to the pre-Covid April 2019 period.” Retail sales of three-wheelers stood at 70,928 units last month, up 57 per cent from 45,114 units in April, 2022. Similarly, registration of commercial vehicles increased by two per cent to 85,587 units in April from 83,987 units in the year-ago period. Tractor retail sales also increased by one per cent to 55,835 units last month as compared to April, 2022. Retail sales of vehicles across categories declined by four per cent to 17,24,935 units in April. In the same month last year, this figure was 17,97,432 units.(Agency)