Automobile sector in J&K registers robust September sales with 12% growth

Srinagar, Oct 12: With a slump in retail business activity and a nosedive in tourism influx, automobile sector continues to chart its growth story by retaining sales momentum in Jammu and Kashmir.

While the majority of retail verticals in J&K have witnessed a slowdown of late, on the back of robust online sales and less disposable incomes, the automobile sales have remained steady with the Union Territory recording 11.42 per cent year-on-year growth in September this year, a month that marks beginning of autumn season in the Valley.

The sharp growth recorded in J&K,  is more than double than the all-India average growth of 5.22 per cent. Considering the onset of autumn season, a period when economic activity prepares to see a dip owing to a long forthcoming winter, growth of 11.42 per cent shows a positive buying sentiment as far as automobiles are concerned, said auto experts.

As per Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), a national-level umbrella body of automobile retail dealerships, in terms of category wise sales of vehicles, J&K recorded 15.75 per cent growth  in retail sales of passenger vehicles in September. Sales of commercial vehicles during the same period this year have seen a sharp increase by 22.78 per cent. Pertinently, this is a massive improvement compared to the 22.45 per cent dip seen in commercial vehicle sales during January in J&K earlier this year.

Although overall commercial vehicle sales in J&K have presented a positive picture, the sales trajectory in three-wheeler has seen a sharp year-on-year decrease by 13.08 per cent in September

However, as per FADA data, another downward trend in sales has been witnessed in retail sales of tractors, which registered a year-on-year dip of 7.47 per cent in J&K. Interestingly, the two-wheeler segment, which had been a front-runner in automobile sales during the last one decade, on the back of the hot-selling segment of gearless scooters, which had seen lesser sales in August, bounced back during September and witnessed a recovery in sales. The two-wheeler retail data released by FADA suggests a year-on-year growth of 12.71 per cent in September sales in J&K. This segment had seen a year-on-year dip in sales by 0.03 per cent in January, 2025.