Sales of public vehicles drop for lack of routes

KATHMANDU, NOV 15 -Fewer commercial vehicles were registered in the first quarter reflecting a slowdown in sales . According to the Department of Transport Management, registrations of buses, trucks, heavy equipment and power trailers plunged 20.78 percent year on year. However, the number of cars, jeeps, vans, bikes and scooters being registered went up.

The department registered a total of 53,180 new vehicles from its 13 zonal offices during the period mid-July to mid-October. Among them, 4,277 were commercial vehicles like buses, mini buses, trucks, mini trucks, heavy equipment, micro buses, power trailers, pick-up vans and tempos. In the first quarter of last year, the total number of registrations stood at 49,983 units including 5,399 commercial vehicles.

Department officials have attributed the drop in registrations to a slowdown in the economy and lack of free public transportation routes. The routes available for operation of public transportation vehicles have all been taken, they said. “The trend of obtaining route permits for public transportation vehicles is down due to the lack of new routes,” said a senior official at the department. “And this has been reflected in the registration of vehicles such as buses, mini buses and micro buses.”


He added that registrations of new public buses would likely remain slow until the government completes its road expansion drive. For example, there are around 200 public transportation routes within the Kathmandu valley on which more than 5,000 vehicles are operating.

Meanwhile, sales of commercial vehicles may be down, but the passenger car and motorcycle market is on an upswing. As per the department, registrations of  passenger cars soared 32.47 percent year on year. Similarly, registrations of new motorcycles rose 8.54 percent. Automobile dealers said that even though the passenger car business had swelled, bike sales were slower than expected. A total of 46,084 bikes were registered in the first quarter compared to 42,456 in the same period last year.

The sluggish growth in the motorcycle business has been blamed on the government’s delay in implementing its new driving licence test. Automobile dealers said that bike and car sales had grown as a result of easier finance plans, low interest rates and festive schemes. “Banks and financial institutions are competing to offer auto loans at 9.8 to 10 percent interest compared to 14-15 percent last year,” said Anup Baral, CEO of Narayani Auto Business. He added that the auto show held before the Dashain festival this year had also energized sales .