Vehicles registration down by 9%

KATHMANDU, April 3:

Vehicles registration over the first eight months of 2013/14 dropped by 9 percent compared to figures of the same period in the last fiscal year.

Statistics of the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) shows, 130,000 units of vehicle were registered in the country until mid-March this year, compared to 143,984 units in the same period last year.

Government officials and auto dealers have attributed the drop in registration to delay in construction of driving license trial centers in different parts of the country and reluctance of banks in financing vehicles, particularly two-wheelers.

Shekhar Golchha, president of Nepal Automobile Dealers´ Association (NADA), said drop in sales of two-wheelers had impacted overall automobile registration and sale. “Sale of two-wheelers has dropped by around 8 percent,” Golchha said, adding that banks were showing reluctance to finance two-wheelers.

The statistics shows registration of two-wheelers went down by 11 percent during the review period. Altogether 108,911 units of two-wheelers were registered in the country during the eight-month period, compared to 122,610 units in the same period of 2012/13.

Officials of DoTM said delay in construction of driving license trial centers in different parts of the country also affected sale of new vehicles. “We are still to construct such trial centers in Narayani and Mahakali zones,” Mukti KC, director of DoTM, said. “The process of issuing driving license has been affected in these places, resulting to drop in automobile sales.” He, however, vowed to complete construction works and bring the trial centers into operation at the earliest.

Data of DoTM shows registration of vehicles under bus, mini bus/mini truck, truck/tripper/crane, and microbus segment also went down during the period. A total of
Data shows 1,456 units of buses were registered in the country until mid-March this year as against 2,050 units in the same period of previous year. Similarly, registration of mini bus/mini truck declined to 216 units from 716 units recorded in the first eight months of 2012/13. Similarly, 1,682 units of vehicles under truck/tripper/crane segment were registered in the country during review period as against 2,246 units in the same period last year. Registration of microbuses also went down to 73 units, down from 96 units in the same period of last year.

There, however, was slight increment in registration of vehicles under car/jeep/van segment. Data shows 7,389 units of such vehicles were registered in the country until mid-march this year as against 6,282 units in the same period of previous fiscal year.

Though sale of two-wheelers has dropped, Golchha said overall sales in the four-wheeler segment looks good.

Source: Republica