Vehicle retail sales in India fell 6.52% year-on-year during the Navratri festive period to 11.23 lakh units, as passenger vehicle and two-wheeler sales declined against a high base last year, according to provisional data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) on Wednesday.
The decline, however, masked a stronger performance against Navratri 2024, the last comparable festive period before last year's goods and services tax (GST) rate cuts spurred a wave of pent-up demand.
Retail sales were up 26.76% from 8.86 lakh units during Navratri 2024, with electric vehicle (EV) sales emerging as a key growth driver.
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Passenger vehicle retail sales fell 21.91% year-on-year to 1.83 lakh units, while two-wheeler sales declined 2.79% to 8.34 lakh units. Three-wheeler sales dropped 7.51% to 45,735 units.
Commercial vehicle sales, however, rose 1.12% to 35,618 units.
FADA president Sai Giridhar had told The Economic Times earlier that the modest year-on-year growth in vehicle retail sales reflected an unusually high base last year, when the GST rate cuts triggered a surge in pent-up demand.
Navratri also lasted 11 days in 2025, compared with 10 days this year, according to FADA's statement.
EV retail sales rose 26.78% year-on-year to 1.17 lakh units, accounting for around 10.5% of total vehicle sales during Navratri, up from about 7.7% a year earlier, FADA said.
Electric two-wheeler sales increased 33.41% to 75,758 units, while electric passenger vehicle sales grew 25.97% to 12,305 units. Electric commercial vehicle sales nearly doubled to 1,288 units.
Giridhar said the industry remained cautiously optimistic ahead of the Dhanteras-to-Diwali buying period, citing improving affordability and rising consumer demand.