New Delhi. This year’s Diwali festival has seen such a drop in car sales that dealers have accumulated a record 80-85 days worth of inventory. This inventory includes about 7.90 lakh vehicles, the total value of which is said to be around ₹ 79,000 crore. This information was brought to light in a report by Economic Times.

According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), car sales have declined by 18.81% this year. Nevertheless, despite low sales, car manufacturers had increased their inventory of vehicles, which is why dealers increased their inventories. There has been a decline in sales since May, causing dealer inventories to continue to rise.

Effects also visible in mid-range vehicles
Interestingly, sales of mid-size cars priced between Rs 10 and 25 lakh were also affected. This category has been the main driver of sales growth post-pandemic, but has also seen a slowdown this year.

Influence of weather and new models
Unusual weather conditions are also considered to be one of the reasons for the delay in buying a car. This year, extreme heat followed by heavy monsoon forced buyers to postpone their plans. At the same time, demand has remained stable for new models such as Maruti Suzuki Franks and the recently launched Tata Curve, which were less affected by this recession.

Large manufacturers have the highest inventory
Large companies like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai have the highest dealer inventory while companies like Nissan and Citroen have also accumulated sufficient inventory.

Tags: car news, Car sales, Passenger cars