Vehicle Import Spending Fell 34% in September — So Why Did Registrations Jump 18%?

Central Bank data for September shows the vehicle import bill fell 34% year-on-year to around $188 million, roughly where it sat in August. Yet total vehicle registrations jumped 18% month-on-month, from about 45,800 to over 54,200 — almost entirely on the back of motorcycles and three-wheelers, with close to 39,000 bikes registered in that single month. Car numbers barely moved. One side says this is the import duty surcharge and the new safety rules finally pricing ordinary families out of cars, so people are settling for two wheels instead of four. The other side says this is just the normal mix — bikes and trikes are cheap in dollar terms, so unit numbers can rise while total import spend falls, and it says nothing about affordability at all. Are you seeing friends or family who wanted a car end up buying a scooter or a three-wheeler instead this year? Or is this reading too much into one month's numbers? මාසයක දී වාහන ආනයන වාරිකය අඩු වුණත්, ලියාපදිංචි වුණු වාහන ගාණ වැඩි වෙලා තියෙනවා - ඇයි කියලා ඔයාලගේ අදහස මොකක්ද?