Domestic Tractor Industry Registered Record Sales Owing to Festive Demands in October 2022

The auto industry saw a massive surge in tractor sales in the domestic market in October this year, owing to the high demands during the festive season. While the month of September also remained positive in terms of business for dealers and manufacturers, festive demands boosted the market in October, taking the total tractor volumes to 1.24 lakh units.

The domestic volumes for the month went up to 7 per cent y-o-y, which is the highest-ever monthly sales till date. As per the data provided by Tractor & Mechanization Association (TMA), the month-on-month sales volume stood at 9 per cent.

In the ongoing year, the month of April happens to be the only month that showed a positive growth in tractor sales after October.

"The wholesale volumes over the past two months (September and October) have grown at a healthy pace (23 per cent and 7 per cent y-o-y, respectively), with OEMs building up dealer inventory to cater to strong demand during the festival season. Retail sales during the 42-day festival period grew at a healthy pace of about 30 per cent to 77,602 units, aided by stable farm cash flows", ICRA agency said in a statement.

Previously, data from Gujarat's Federation of Automobile Association (FADA) showed a massive 272 per cent of growth in tractor sales in the state as compared to the total sales in October last year. A total of 14,139 tractors were sold in Oct 2022, while just 3,795 were sold in the same month in 2021.

The immense hike in sales is believed to be a result of satisfactory monsoon and better cultivation this year, along with a motivational consumer market for the farmers. Also, the vast sales numbers come after the official announcement of higher MSPs for the rabi crop for this season resulting in a significant jump in individual farmers taking up agriculture-term loan.

The auto markets also witnessed a never-before demand for mini tractors as a result of increasing trends of small-scale organic farming among the urban population. Customers are opting to implement organic farming methods on small land parcels such as a minor piece of agricultural land or at a farmhouse, for which small or mini tractors are good to go with while also being cost effective.

The rising demand for these tractors has led to big market players introducing various features and improvisations in the machineries such as land levellers, ploughs, rotavators, threshers, harvesters, sub-soilers, super-seeders, and more.

The additional features being introduced with the tractors as well as growing popularity towards the farming sector amongst the youth and the urban population also happens to be a critical reason behind the high sales of the tractors in October 2022.

The registration numbers for Tractors have even surpassed the pre-Covid period in the sector.