Vehicle registrations record marginal recovery in Feb.

• Backed by growth in hand tractors and locally assembled vehicles
• United Motors, Ideal Motors appear to gain ground with import ban on passenger vehicles
• A total of 3,558 vehicles registered in Feb., up from 3,256 units in Jan. but significantly down from 31,402 a year ago 
• Some segments, including three-wheelers, record insignificant registrations 

Sri Lanka’s vehicle registrations saw a marginal recovery in February, compared to the previous month, mainly driven by the high volumes of hand tractors in the commercial segment and an uptick in locally assembled vehicles.

However, registrations remained at sluggish levels in line with the trend seen during the past several months, as a result of the import ban on passenger vehicles to curtail foreign exchange outflows.

A total of 3,558 vehicle units were registered during February, up from 3,256 units in January, however, significantly down from 31,402 units a year ago, according to the vehicle registration data compiled by Colombo-based equity brokerage and research house J B Securities.

Little over a week ago, Finance Ministry Secretary S.R. Attygalle remarked that the current import ban on passenger vehicles would be lifted as soon as the country’s economy bounces back to pre-COVID levels and foreign exchange inflows return to their usual levels.

Overall motorcar registrations marginally rose to 220 units in February, up from 195 units in January but significantly down from 2,056 units recorded a year ago.

J B Securities highlighted that Zotye – Z100, a locally manufactured car by a United Motors subsidiary, accounted for 79 units, out of the 95 units recorded under brand-new cars, up from 27 units in January and 34 units recorded a year ago.

Meanwhile, SUVs recorded 287 units in the month, up from 161 units registered in January, however, significantly down from 819 units recorded one year ago. It also included 31 Toyota Land Cruisers, which was gifted to the Police Department by the Japanese government.

In the locally assembled category, DFSK of United Motors recorded 113 units in February, significantly up from 14 units in January and six units a year back and Mahindra KUV 100 of Ideal Motors recorded 80 units in the month, up from 61 units in January and just one unit recorded a year ago.

Hand tractors in the commercial segment, which don’t come under the import ban, recorded 212 units in February, significantly up from 94 units in the previous month and 83 units a year ago. 

Similarly, large tractors with no import ban in place recorded 485 units in the month, marginally up from 461 units seen in the previous month and 240 units a year ago.

Meanwhile, buses recorded 42 units, up from 21 units in January but considerably down from 101 units registered one year ago.
Two-wheelers recorded 1,239 units in February, marginally up from 1,228 units in the previous month but significantly down from 24,268 units one year back. Despite the record-low units, the import ban has impacted the market share of the players in the two-wheelers category.

“Of this lower number, brands categorised under minor brands and locally assembled ones had the largest share at 43 percent, followed by TVS with 26.8 percent and Hero with 18 percent. Under normal conditions, Honda was the market, followed by Yamaha; both are showing very low volumes for they probably have stocked out,” J B Securities Managing Director Murtaza Jafferjee pointed out.

Despite the pre-owned category accounting for 183 units, out of 216 medium trucks registered in February, the number was down compared to 259 units in the previous month. However, it was up from 178 units recorded one year ago.

Lastly, heavy trucks recorded 39 units in the month, up from 27 units in January but considerably down from 75 units, a year ago.
J B Securities noted that the recorded registrations in most other categories were insignificant.