FADA, SIAM and VAHAN: which India vehicle number should you use?
Three sources, three different numbers for the same market. Here is what each one counts and when to use it.
The short answer
Use registrations or retail figures to measure what customers actually bought, dispatch figures to measure what manufacturers shipped to dealers and abroad, and registration-level data when you need to see model, colour or location. They are all correct, and they are not meant to match.
| Source | What it counts | Basis | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| FADA | Retail registrations of new vehicles by category | Published monthly and for the fiscal year by the dealers’ association | Retail demand by category |
| SIAM | Production, domestic dispatches (wholesales) and exports by category | Reported by manufacturers | Industry volumes and exports |
| VAHAN | Vehicles on India’s national registration database | Registration records; not a sales database | Detail by model, fuel, colour and location, after cleaning |
A worked example: FY2025-26
India’s fiscal year runs from April to March. For FY2025-26, FADA reported retail registrations and SIAM reported domestic wholesales, as follows.
| Category | FADA retail registrations | SIAM domestic wholesales | SIAM vs FADA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-wheelers | 21,420,386 | 21,705,974 | +1.3% |
| Passenger vehicles | 4,705,056 | 4,643,439 | -1.3% |
| Three-wheelers | 1,363,412 | 836,231 | -38.7% |
| Commercial vehicles | 1,060,906 | 1,079,871 | +1.8% |
Two-wheelers and passenger vehicles are within about two per cent of each other. Three-wheelers are far apart, which shows that the two bodies do not count the same set of vehicles. FADA’s overall total (29,671,064) also includes tractors and other categories that SIAM’s automobile totals do not.
Why dispatches and registrations differ
- Timing. A vehicle is dispatched to a dealer first and registered when a customer takes delivery. Dealer stock sits in between.
- Scope. The categories, and what counts as a three-wheeler or a commercial vehicle, are not identical.
- Source. One is compiled from registrations, the other reported by manufacturers.
Which to use
- Sizing demand: registrations or FADA retail figures.
- Production and export planning: SIAM.
- Local planning, model and colour mix: registration-level data, cleaned and standardised.
- Checking a data set: compare its monthly totals with the published FADA or SIAM total and explain the difference.
How we use them
Our India data is registration-level. We compare monthly totals with published industry totals where they exist and say which basis each number uses. See our methodology and the India registration data page.
Sources
- FADA, FY2025-26 vehicle retail data (press release)
- SIAM FY2025-26 wholesales, as reported by Outlook Business
- SIAM FY2025-26 results, as reported by AutoGuide India
Change log
- 6 October 2026: First published with FY2025-26 figures.
Tell us what data you need
Share your market, segment and level of detail. We will come back with coverage, format and a sample.