Around 3.2 million weddings were hosted in November and December, according to retail trade body the Confederation of All India Traders

Despite the threat of global recession and inflation vehicles are selling in record numbers in India and it is all attributed to the festive season and the big fat Indian weddings.

If we look at industry numbers, India  registered a record growth in sales of vehicles by 26 per cent in the month of November 2022 as compared to the sale of November 2021, according to the data of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).  

As per experts, the long festive season and big fat Indian weddings boosted the growth of the automobile sector. 

In a recent press briefing, President of FADA, Manish Raj Singhania said, “November 2022 has clocked the highest retails in the history of the Indian automobile industry with March 2020 as an exception when retails were higher due to BS-4 to BS-6 transition.” 

Big Fat Weddings

Around 3.2 million weddings were hosted in November and December, according to retail trade body the Confederation of All India Traders, which would have generated a whopping 3.75 trillion rupees ($45.5 billion) of business overall for sectors including clothing retail. That compares with 2.5 trillion rupees over the same period in 2019, before the pandemic struck, and about 3 trillion rupees last year as traditional ceremonies started to return.

Shruti Saboo, Associate Director at Credit Rating firm, India Ratings and Research was quoted by Quartz as saying, “Indians believe in the culture of spending big on gifts during weddings, and as a result, they always end up buying vehicles, boosting the sales of both two and four-wheelers.” 

Another factor during this time, according to Saboo, is the prospective groom or bride’s need to upgrade. “Married couples want to upgrade and invest in new cars or two-wheelers to start the new chapter of their lives”

According to the FDA, healthy auto retails were also supported by the Reserve Bank of India’s consumer confidence data which remains on the recovery path. But things may not remain rosy. “The central bank’s continued rate hikes and the lockdown in China may play spoilsport in the near term,” officials added.