New Delhi: The automobile retail sales in April saw a four per cent decline to 1.72 million units, down from 1.79 million units in April last year, said data shared by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).

Although the three-wheeler segment enjoyed robust growth of 57 per cent year-on-year (YoY), tractor and commercial vehicles (CV) segments only grew by a modest one per cent and two per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the two-wheeler and passenger vehicle categories experienced YoY degrowth of seven per cent and one per cent, respectively. Compared to the pre-Covid-19 April 2019, two-wheeler sales are still down by 19 per cent.

Following a high demand in the e-rickshaw and passenger segments, the three-wheeler segment has grown by 57 per cent YoY and also surpassing pre-coronavirus levels at a healthy rate.

The passenger vehicle (PV) segment, which achieved record sales in FY23, slowed down in April, with retail decreasing by one per cent YoY. This was primarily due to last year's high base and the OBD 2A norms, which led to vehicle price increases and advanced purchases in March.

FADA has urged the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council to consider reducing GST on two-wheelers from 28 per cent to 18 per cent to help revive this vital segment, which represents 75 per cent of total auto sales volume.

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