First decline in vehicle registration since 2009/10

KATHMANDU, July 30:

Registration of vehicles declined in fiscal year 2013/14 after posting growth in three previous fiscal years.

Statistics of the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) shows vehicles registration declined by 4.86 percent to 198,343 during the review year. Registration of vehicles in segments like two-wheelers and bus as well truck and crane declined in 2013/14. According to the data, registration of two-wheelers went down by 11,436 units to 163,945 units.

Similarly, registration of buses also came down by 487 units to 2,776. Likewise, registration of vehicles under truck and crane segment went down to 2,789 units compared to 3,332 units in the previous fiscal year.

DoTM officials attributed the drop to the introduction of sophisticated driving license trial system. “The drop is nominal. It might be due to the comparatively difficult driving license trial system,” Kashi Raj Dahal, director general of DoTM, told Republica

Registration of vehicles under car, jeep and van, however, increased by 18.5 percent to 11,372.

Automobile traders have attributed the rise in registration of vehicles under car, jeep and van to easy access to loans from banks and financial institutions (BFIs).

“Of late, BFIs have been providing easy loans for purchase of cars, jeeps and vans compared to two-wheelers,” Anjan Shrestha, vice president of Nepal Automobile Dealers´ Association (NADA), told Republica. “It is because of this facility that more people are buying four-wheelers.”

Adhir Kumar Shrestha, assistant general manager of VG Automobiles -- the authorized distributor of Suzuki motorcycles in Nepal, said the demand for two-wheelers, however, is increasing in cities other than Kathmandu Valley. “Some years ago, markets outside the Kathmandu Valley used to contribute around 40 percent of total sales. The trend is just opposite now,” he added.

The data shows 34 percent of the total registrations were made in Bagmati zone. A total of 67,449 units of vehicles were registered in Bagmati zone in 2013/14. Narayani and Koshi zones stood in the second and third position with total registration of 43,719 and 28,753 units, respectively.

Seti zone came last in the list with just 575 units of vehicles registered in 2013/14.

Source: Republica