Two-wheelers maintained their market dominance with 4,48,767 units, accounting for more than half of the total vehicle sales. Delhi witnessed a slight upward trend in vehicle registrations in 2024 compared to 2023. It saw the registration of 7,09,024 vehicles in 2024 - a 7.8% increase - against 6,57,954 in 2023.
The data reveals the recovery in Delhi's vehicle registrations since the pandemic years, but only moderate growth in the past two years. In 2022, the registration surged to 6,08,378, a remarkable 32.6% jump, compared to 4,58,919 in 2021. In 2023, the registration grew by 8.2%, reaching 6,57,954.
Two-wheelers maintained their market dominance with 4,48,767 units, accounting for more than half of the total vehicle sales. Light motor vehicles - cars, jeeps, vans, hatchbacks, sedans and SUVs - achieved sales of 1,87,286 units, becoming the second most popular category in the city market.
The sales, however, saw fluctuating trends throughout the year. Jan led the way with 67,216 vehicles sold while the count stood at 52,900 in Feb. March and April recorded 54,752 and 57,763 sales, respectively. This was followed by June (49,176) and Aug (53,910) while July marked a high of 58,611. Sept saw a dip with 45,756 sales, but Oct and Nov emerged as the standout months at 87,988 and 83,361, respectively. However, the year ended on a lower note with 43,538 units sold in Dec.
Officials said the reason Oct and Nov saw high vehicle sales was that this was the time of festivals, including Diwali, considered auspicious for buying vehicles.
Anil Chhikara, a faculty member at Asian Institute of Transport Development, said, "This is a marginal rise because we have to take into account that everywhere population also rose. We also have to see whether the increase in vehicles on roads is a good thing."
He added, "There is an obvious tendency to buy private vehicles when income standards increase. But at the same time, the whopping number of vehicles on Delhi roads suggests that public transport is weak. The number of buses is not as per the requirement."
Pointing out that public transport is crowded during peak hours, Chhikara said there was hardly any premium buses. "We need to bring public transport to a level that it offers personal car-like comfort; only then people will deter from buying more and more personal vehicles."
PK Sarkar, former head of transport planning at School of Planning and Architecture, said, "If we see the jump in percentage, it is more or less the same. The introduction of app-based cab service has helped people who do not wish to buy personal vehicles, but still Delhi has a large number of cars on the road."
The number of personal vehicles has increased due to various reasons, including high pollution level, weak last-mile connectivity, he pointed out. "Now it is extremely difficult to ride the metro in peak hours," Sarkar said.
On the other hand, he argued, the easy availability of loans from banks has helped in the vehicle sales. The number of two-wheelers is the maximum due to easy accessibility and their manoeuvring capacity amid traffic.
