Nov. vehicle registrations down over election

Sri Lanka’s vehicle registrations, led by motorcycles, motorcars and three-wheelers, fell in November, according to the vehicle registration data compiled by JB Securities, a Colombo-based equity brokerage and research house.

JB Securities Managing Director Murtaza Jafferjee opined that the decline in registrations could be due to the presidential election held on November 16.
The brand-new car registrations recorded 264 units in November, down from 363 units in October and 365 units 12 months ago.

Small cars, below 1,000 cc engines, accounted for 60.6 percent of volumes, followed by medium cars that accounted for 38.3 percent of volumes. 

Maruti/Suzuki accounted for 83 units. The financing share was 48.8 percent. Pre-owned cars recorded 1,766 units in November, down from 2,149 units in October and significantly down from 2,989 units 12 months ago.

Small cars accounted for 71.6 percent of total volumes. Toyota recorded 1,274 units and out of that, 776 units were Vitz. The financing share was 44.2 percent.

The premium motorcar registrations recorded 90 units in November, down from 132 units in October and significantly down from 158 units 12 months ago. 

In the brand-new category, Mercedes Benz recorded 19 units (9 C Class), followed by Audi with 10 units (A4 and A5).

The pre-owned segment recorded 60 units, of which Mercedes Benz recorded 38 units  (20 C class 20 units), Audi 12 units, which included eight A 1 units, followed by BMW with 10 units (Nine 3 Series units).

Electric cars recorded 14 units in November, slightly up from 12 units in October and six units 12 months ago. The majority of electric cars were MGs. The SUV registrations recorded 638 units in November, down from 738 units in October and significantly down from 1,301 units 12 months ago. The brand-new units recorded 202 units and the balance 436 units were pre-owned.  Crossovers, less than 1,500 cc engines, accounted for 599 units. Toyota recorded 231 units, of which C-HR were 196 units, followed by Honda recording 158 units. The financing share was 31.2 percent.

Hybrid vehicles recorded 389 units in November, down from 482 units in October and significantly down from 1,585 units 12 months ago. 

Motorcars recorded 332 units comprising of 137 units of Toyota (Axio 119 units), followed by Suzuki accounting for 158 units (Wagon R 123 units). In the hybrid SUV category, there were 55 units, of which Honda Vezels were 54 units.

Van registrations recorded 535 units in November, down from 687 units in October but up from 451 units 12 months ago.  Three-wheelers recorded 995 units in November, down from 1,244 units in October and 1,314 units 12 months ago.

Bajaj had absolute dominance with a 96.3 percent share. The financing share was 74.2 percent in line with the normal monthly average. The two-wheeler registrations recorded 18,540 units in November, down from 21,918 units in October and 22,373 units 12 months ago. The brand-new accounted for 18,274 while the balance 266 units were pre-owned. 
Electric two-wheelers recorded 31 units. 

The scooter segment recorded 11,939 units (64.4 percent of total volumes) and Honda claimed 56.6 percent of the category, followed by TVS with 18.4 percent and Yamaha with a 16.3 percent share.  In the non-scooter category, Bajaj is the dominant player with a 40 percent share, followed by Yamaha with a 23.8 percent share. The financing share was 73.7 percent in line with the normal monthly average.