Sweet November: Car sales beat Covid-19 gloom in festive season – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The festive season has brought some much-needed cheer for the automobile sector, with November recording not only the highest car sales of 2020 in Delhi, but also more vehicle registrations than in November 2019.
Last month, there were 56,943 registrations of personal transport vehicles, which included 15,866 cars and 41,077 two-wheelers. Last year, 56,584 vehicles were registered in November, including 12,162 cars and 44,422 two wheelers. In the Covid-19 pandemic period, November is the only month that has higher vehicle sales compared with the same period in 2019. One reason for this, of course, was because Diwali was celebrated last year on October 27, when 66,560 vehicles were registered in Delhi, and this year on November 14.
The automobile sector is happy because November has not only seen the highest vehicle sales since the coronavirus outbreak, but the maximum of the entire year. November’s sales jumped 33% over October (41,905) and saw a registration growth of 17.7% against registrations in January (48,356). The number of cars sold in November – 15,866 – is also higher than corresponding figures in January (15,674) and February (11,389).

“The Covid outbreak made a huge dent in vehicle sales this year, also affecting revenue generation for Delhi government,” a government official said. “But thanks to the vehicle sales during the festive season in November, some recovery will have been recorded when 2020 ends.”
Till November end, 3,63,034 vehicles were registered in Delhi, including 1,03,072 cars and 2,59,962 two-wheelers. Compared with the January-November period in 2019, the dip is quite significant. Last year, 5,49,502 vehicles were registered by November end, including 1,39,816 cars and 4,09,686 two-wheelers. However, the gap between figures of the two years is closing with each passing month.
Vehicle registrations in Delhi restarted on May 4, when the lockdown was first relaxed by the central government. While online sales of vehicles started in April and 928 two-wheelers and 297 four-wheelers were sold, registrations began only in May and 8,955 vehicles were registered, apart from 1,225 vehicles of April.
Though more than 70% of all vehicles sold in Delhi are two-wheelers, the number of cars sold is also increasing. In September, the car sales against September last year saw a dip of 10%, while the slide in the sale of two-wheelers against the same period last year was 26.9%. The dip became deeper in October, with car sales decreasing by 15% and sale of two-wheelers by a staggering 44.4%, compared with October 2019. But these figures have to be seen in the context of the festive season being in October last year.
Sources in the transport department said that while it was expected that two-wheelers and budget cars would see higher sales, the sale of high-end cars, including SUVs, has also been high. Officials said that the sale of four wheelers started picking up in July after lax previous months. While two-wheelers are still being registered in bigger numbers than cars, the growth in the sale of four wheelers in percentage has been much better.
“More than two-wheelers, it is the sale of cars picking up that shows a revival of the economy in Delhi,” the official said. “Also, due to strict social distancing norms followed in buses and Delhi Metro, the carrying capacity of public transport has reduced and so many are opting for personal vehicles.”