New Delhi. In the first six months of the current financial year (April-September 2024), retail sales of vehicles in the country have increased by 6.55 percent. It is generally believed that urban areas contribute more to the sales of vehicles other than motorcycles and tractors. But, now the scenario is changing. According to the data, in the half year ending September 30, sales of vehicles of every category have declined in urban areas, while sales have increased in rural areas. According to the latest data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), total retail sales of vehicles in the country stood at 1,19,15,963 units in the first six months of the financial year.
This is 6.55 percent more than 1,11,83,734 units in the same half of the last financial year. FADA said that overall sales in the first half declined by 2.25 percent in the urban area. Whereas, in rural areas it recorded a growth of 1.93 percent. During this period, there was a decline of 1.19 percent in the sales of two-wheelers, 7.27 percent in three-wheelers, 1.20 percent in commercial vehicles and 2.73 percent in passenger vehicles in the urban area. Sales of tractors were also down by 11.67 percent. Talking about rural areas, retail sales of two-wheelers have increased by 0.90 percent, sales of three-wheelers have increased by 7.38 percent and sales of passenger vehicles (cars, SUVs and vans) have increased by 4.86 percent.
At the same time, there was a growth of 1.24 percent in sales of commercial vehicles and 2.92 percent growth in tractors. FADA President CS. Releasing retail sales figures for September, Vigneshwar said that this year there has been eight percent more rainfall than normal during the southwest monsoon, which is the highest in four years. Due to this, the area of Kharif crops has increased by 1.5 percent compared to the previous season. This has had a positive impact on rural demand. However, he admitted that festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam were also not effective in increasing demand.