New Car Sales Fell to Just 453 in October, Nearly Half Were BYD — Toyotas Not Selling?

Sri Lanka's new-car market basically shrank to nothing in October: only 453 brand-new cars were registered nationwide, down about 34% from September, while total vehicle registrations fell 12% on a weaker rupee, tighter loan-to-value limits and the 50% import surcharge. The odder number is on brand — BYD's ATTO 1 alone made up roughly half of all new-car registrations (221 units), while the used market stayed firmly Japanese, with Suzuki leading pre-owned sales at 836 units, mostly Wagon Rs. One camp says this is the shift people predicted: with Toyota and Suzuki holding new prices high under the surcharge, buyers who can still afford a brand-new car are picking a cheaper Chinese EV instead of waiting for a new Vitz or Corolla. The other camp says 453 units is too small a sample to mean anything — BYD's number looks like dealer push and fleet/corporate deals, not a genuine taste shift, and the real market is still the used Japanese cars everyone's actually financing. If you're shopping right now, are you even looking at anything brand-new, or has 'new' quietly become something only fleets and early EV buyers bother with? අලුත් කාරයක් ගන්න හිතාගෙන ඉන්න කෙනෙක් ඉන්නවද, නැත්නම් දැන් හැමෝම පරණ කාර් එකක් හොයනවද?