New Delhi: Federation of Automobile Dealers Association said, restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 in many states and people starting work from home are expected to have a negative impact on retail automobile sales. .
“Various state governments have once again announced COVID restrictions. Work from home has resumed and this will have a negative impact on auto retail. For fear of health care spending rising again, customers are shying away from making their purchase decisions,” the association said in a statement.
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Responding to the year-on-year decline in automobile sales in December, the association said: “The month of December is generally seen as a high sales month, where Original Equipment Manufacturers are trying to clear inventory due to the change of year. Keep on offering the best discount for you. However, this was not the case this time as retail sales continued to disappoint, thus ending an underperforming calendar year.”
The reason for the decline in sales in December is also the shortage of semiconductors. In December, overall retail automobile sales in India fell 16.1 per cent to around 1.6 million units. However, the commercial vehicle segment performed relatively well in December. The association said sales of this segment grew by 13.7 per cent to 58,847 units.
It further added, “The government’s spending on infrastructure, especially road infrastructure and the announcement of price hike in January helped this entire segment to end the year with positive double digits.”