Vehicle registrations increase in May to 62,776

Sri Lanka's total vehicle registrations rebounded strongly in May, rising to 62,776 units from 51,156 units in April, driven by a sharp recovery in three-wheeler registrations and increased demand for both brand-new and pre-owned motor cars, according to J. B. Securities.

Three-wheeler registrations climbed to 5,669 units in May from 1,355 units in April, making the segment the biggest contributor to the monthly recovery.

Motor car registrations also recorded a significant increase, rising to 4,738 units from 3,238 units in April, supported by growth in both new and used vehicle sales.

Brand new car registrations more than doubled to 1,199 units from 467 units in April. BYD led the segment with 468 registrations, up from just 29 units the previous month, driven mainly by 268 Atto 1 models and 183 Dolphin Dynamic vehicles.

BAW ranked second with 553 registrations, a sharp increase from 238 units in April, entirely attributed to its E7 entry-level electric vehicle. Perodua registered 96 Bezza models and 47 Axia models, while Kaiyi recorded 41 registrations.

Small cars continued to dominate the new vehicle market, accounting for more than 98 percent of brand-new car registrations, while the financing share declined to 43 percent from 47.4 percent in April.

Two-wheeler registrations also posted healthy growth, increasing to 43,842 units from 38,631 units, while other passenger vehicle categories recorded more moderate gains.

Pre-owned car registrations rose to 3,539 units from 2,771 units in April. SUVs and crossovers with engine capacities below 1,500cc remained the preferred choice, accounting for 95.6 percent of total registrations, with the financing share standing at 45.9 percent.

Hybrid vehicle registrations increased to 2,745 units from 2,316 units in April. Motor cars represented just 40 registrations, while SUVs accounted for the remaining 2,665 units.

Electric vehicle registrations, however, declined sharply to 6,248 units from 8,098 units in April, largely due to lower registrations of electric two-wheelers.

Among commercial vehicles, van registrations increased to 770 units from 568 units, while pickup registrations edged up to 479 units from 455 units. Bus registrations fell to 154 units in May compared with 222 units in the previous month.