Aided by strong demand for aspirational vehicles and an early onset of the festival season, October 2024 saw unusually strong passenger vehicle sales
04 Nov 2024 | 13446 Views | By Ashutosh Radhey Shyam
Monthly car registrations surged to an unprecedented level in October 2024, driven by more demand for aspirational vehicles and an early onset to the festival season. This surge offered much-needed relief to automakers, helping mitigate the risks associated with inventory buildup.
According to data from Vahan, the government’s vehicle ...
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Monthly car registrations surged to an unprecedented level in October 2024, driven by more demand for aspirational vehicles and an early onset to the festival season. This surge offered much-needed relief to automakers, helping mitigate the risks associated with inventory buildup.
According to data from Vahan, the government’s vehicle registration portal, Indian car buyers registered 478,450 units in October 2024—the highest number on record. This growth was primarily fueled by increased registrations in Northern and Western India, where several states recorded their highest monthly figures. The previous peak was 399,112 units, set in January 2024. The October data suggests that an average of 15,434 units were registered daily across over 1,400 RTOs in India.
October 2024 witnessed a year-on-year growth of 34%—a multi-month high—thanks to the higher number of auspicious days during the current festive season. This year's festival period commenced on October 3, allowing for nearly a full month of celebratory purchases, whereas last year's festival began on October 15, effectively halving the number of favorable days.
In 2024, eight out of the first ten months saw monthly car registrations exceed 300,000, averaging 338,311 units for the ten months, compared to 317,605 units in 2023. With the addition of October's 478,000 units, the cumulative car registrations for the year reached 3.383 million, marking a 7.5% increase over the same period in 2023. The total passenger vehicle registrations had been at 3.811 million, indicating that 88% of this total has already been achieved within the first ten months of 2024.
The cumulative registration of passenger cars over September and October rose by 9% to 756,229 units, compared to 691,916 units during the same period last year.
Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh were key drivers of the growth seen in October. These states recorded registrations of 70,759, 54,731, and 54,118 units, reflecting year-on-year growth of 49%, 30%, and 45%, respectively. Notably, Gujarat surpassed Uttar Pradesh to become the second-largest state for passenger car registrations. Rajasthan reported the highest growth, with an 86% increase to 35,352 units in October 2024, raising its share to 7.39%, compared to the 5.29% average for 2024. Madhya Pradesh saw a 60% increase to 24,551 units, while Haryana's registrations grew by 59% to 32,706 units, as per Vahan data.
A senior sales executive from a leading multinational car manufacturer noted that registrations surged in the latter half of October, a trend that bodes well for the industry as inventory pressures ease and discounts remain prevalent. However, he emphasized that the true strength of festive sales should be assessed based on cumulative volumes from September, October, and November, given that many auspicious days in last year’s festival season fell in November. “Our assessment is that the cumulative three-month sales growth will not exceed 5%, and the full-year wholesale volume for the passenger vehicle sector is likely to see low single-digit growth,” he stated.
Wholesale car sales in October 2024 were approximately 100,000 units below the registration figures, indicating significant inventory depletion as the festive season approached its final phase. Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra reported some of the highest dispatch volumes for the month. In a September 2024 release, the Federation of Automotive Dealers stated that they were maintaining inventory levels of 80–85 days, with total inventory value reaching Rs 79,000 crore due to aggressive OEM dispatches. This situation placed dealers under financial strain, increasing cash flow challenges. The higher registration numbers compared to wholesale sales could alleviate some of this financial pressure, which accounts for about 3–4% of the vehicle's ex-showroom price and affects 20–25% of a dealership's total earnings.