Why are people avoiding buying petrol cars? CNG and electric vehicles have won the October sales

During the month of October, the Indian automobile market has seen a major decline in the sales of vehicles. According to Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) data, total retail auto sales across the country fell 23.8 percent year-on-year to over 31.72 lakh units in October. Two-wheeler and passenger vehicle sales were most affected during this period. However, lower demand for vehicles is not the only reason behind this decline. The change in festival dates has also affected the sales figures.

In fact, last year in October, both Navratri and Diwali festivals were in the same month. At the same time, Navratri this year was in October, while Dhanteras and Diwali were falling in November. In such a situation, many customers postponed the decision to buy a car till November. Besides, purchases in the market increased last year after the GST 2.0 rate cut on 22 September 2025. For this reason, the fall in the October figures is more visible this time around.

How much did sales of two-wheelers and cars decline?

According to FADA, retail sales of two-wheelers fell by 28.35 percent to 23.21 lakh units in October. At the same time, passenger vehicle sales declined by 4.23 percent to 5.08 lakh units.

Sai Girdhar, president of FADA, says that October is usually the biggest retail month of the year, but this time it is important to understand the sales figures considering the festival dates. According to him, a major part of the annual decline is due to the change in the calendar.

Two-wheeler sales in rural areas have declined further

Both rural and urban two-wheeler sales declined in October. Retail sales in rural areas recorded a decline of 33.97 percent, while urban areas recorded a decline of 20.77 percent.

On the other hand, electric vehicles had a good month. Their sales reached a record level of around 3.55 lakh units. Sales of electric vehicles grew by 11.5 percent compared to last year, when the figure was around 6 percent.

CNG and electric vehicles overtake petrol cars

October sales figures also saw an interesting change. CNG, hybrid and electric cars accounted for 41.83 percent, while petrol vehicles accounted for 41.6 percent. That means alternative fuel vehicles have overtaken petrol models by a small margin.

Sales of commercial vehicles increased by 2.29 percent to 1.15 lakh units. Three-wheeler sales increased by 3.97 percent to 1.41 lakh units and tractor sales by 3.10 percent to 79,285 units.

Sales are expected to pick up in November

Dealers are hopeful that the auto market may pick up again in November. The main reason for this is Dhanteras and Diwali. This year Dhanteras is on November 6 and Diwali is on November 8. According to FADA, the trend of vehicle registration during the festive season has been good so far.

At the same time, sales conditions in December and January will depend on year-end discounts, new model launches and availability of variants preferred by customers.

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