New Delhi. There was a tremendous jump in the sales of vehicles during the 42-day long festival season in the country. Due to increase in festive demand along with reduction in GST, people purchased record vehicles. During this period, apart from four-wheelers, there was a huge jump in the sales of bikes, scooters and commercial vehicles. The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) released recent figures and said that in the 42-day festival season, a growth of 21 percent has been recorded in the retail sales of vehicles as compared to last year.
According to FADA, total retail sales during festivals this year increased to 52,38,401 units, which was 43,25,632 units in the same period last year. CS Vigneshwar, President of FADA, an organization of vehicle dealers, said that the 42-day festival period in the year 2025 has proved important for the retail sales of motor vehicles. It recorded the highest sales ever across all categories. During this period, registration of passenger vehicles increased by 23 percent on annual basis to 7,66,918 units, whereas in the same period last year it was 6,21,539 units.
Clear effect of GST cut
Vigneshwar said that the effect of GST 2.0 on increasing affordable prices and increasing consumption of the middle class was clearly visible. There was a strong jump in sales of compact and sub-4 meter cars as the purchasing base increased due to lower tax rates. Many dealers said that in some models the pace of retail sales has been more than its supply. This means that there is more demand in the market than the number of vehicles that were supplied.
Tremendous jump in bike sales also
According to FADA, retail sales of two-wheelers also increased by 22 percent in the festive season to 40,52,503 units. In the year 2024, this number was only 33,27,198 units. Vigneshwar said that the two-wheeler sector has got major benefits from better rural environment, better liquidity and reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST). During this period, along with good demand for commuter bikes and scooters, interest in electric vehicles has also increased.
Sales of commercial vehicles also increased
FADA said that during the 42-day period, registration of three-wheelers and commercial vehicles has also increased by 9 percent and 15 percent respectively. Retail sales of motor vehicles increased by 41 percent on annual basis in October to 40,23,923 units. Registration of passenger vehicles increased to 5,57,373 units last month, which was 5,00,578 units in October 2024. It has shown a jump of more than 11 percent. Sales of two-wheelers in October also increased by 52 percent on an annual basis to 31,49,846 units, last year in October only 20,75,578 bikes were sold.
Bumper demand for three-wheelers too
According to FADA, retail sales of three-wheelers in October increased by 5 percent year-on-year to 1,29,517 units, while sales of commercial vehicles registered an increase of 18 percent compared to the same period last month. The automobile dealers' association said India's automotive retail outlook will remain positive for the next three months due to the continued impact of GST 2.0, stable rural incomes and seasonal demand from weddings and crops.