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Informist, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026

 

By Anand JC

 

MUMBAI – With demand for electric cars shooting up rapidly ever since the war in West Asia broke out, automobile dealerships are holding more of entry-level petrol-run cars as most electric cars are on a waiting list. "Most EVs, I don't think that you will have any free stock available (at dealerships)," President of Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations Sai Giridhar told Informist Tuesday.

 

Electric cars accounted for 8.45% of all passenger vehicles sold in September, up from 5.74% a year ago and 7.63% a month ago. Alternative fuel-run cars combined, including cars with compressed natural gas, hybrid, and electric powertrains, accounted for 41% of cars sold in September, same as petrol cars. 

 

Sharp rise in demand for electric vehicles goes beyond passenger vehicles. Electric passenger three-wheelers were the only category to record a year-on-year contraction in retail sales in September – in low double-digits no less – mainly because of lack of availability. Around 65% of three-wheelers sold in India were fuelled by electricity.

 

TAKING STOCK

Dealerships sold 2.54 million automobiles in September, up 32% on year and almost 5% on month. The year-on-year growth rate benefited from a very low base as customers last year had postponed their vehicle purchase plans in anticipation of lower GST rates.

 

Car dealerships currently have a stock of just under 45 days on average, well above the 21-day recommended by the dealer body. However, Giridhar does not find this number to be a spot of bother, especially ahead of the festival season. 

 

"This time around (compared to the festival season last year), OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and dealerships are far better prepared to cater to the demand, which we anticipate in the next 40-odd days," Giridhar said. Dealers are using better stock availability, along with consumer schemes to "lure" customers to the showrooms.

 

Dealerships did not offer as many schemes last year as prices had been cut sharply because of a revision in goods and services tax rate in late 2026. "There was a huge crunch as far as availability of cars is concerned. The dealers were probably left out to arrange their own transport for getting vehicles from the plant. So it was chaos last year," Giridhar said, adding that the situation this year is much better.

 

These consumer schemes only coincide with the multiple price hikes taken by automakers this year but are mainly in force because of the festival season, Giridhar said. "Price hikes happened before as well, this time its happing quite frequently and quite abruptly because of input cost pressure, we understand that," he said.

 

In the coming three months, the dealer body expects affordability to be a key decisive factor when it comes to converting enquiries into sales on showroom floors. "A substantial part of the GST 2.0 benefit still sits with the consumer, but successive input-cost-led price increases are narrowing that cushion, and dealers rightly flag this as their top risk," FADA said in a press release issued earlier on Tuesday.  End

 

Edited by Himanshi Gupta

 

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