Sri Lanka registers 48,708 vehicles in September

• 221,000 vehicles registered during first 9 months in 2025, bulk being two-wheelers 

Sri Lanka registered 48,708 motor vehicles in September 2025, bringing the total for the first nine months of the year to 220,097, according to the latest vehicle registration summary compiled by JB Securities.
The surge is largely attributed to pent-up demand, following the reopening of vehicle imports in February 2025, which came with substantially high duties and taxes, a move widely regarded as appropriate by the government.
However, liberal think tanks and certain media outlets have expressed strong criticism over the steep taxes on vehicle imports. Their outcry began even before the 2020 import ban, which was introduced to preserve foreign currency, amid the onset of prolonged COVID-19 lockdown that severely affected the economy. Critics had instead blamed the economic collapse on alleged US $ 18 billion corruption and called for unrestricted vehicle imports, despite significant foreign currency losses from tourism, remittances and other inflows.
Vehicle registrations serve as a close proxy for vehicle imports. Monthly data shows registrations rising steadily since February: from around 12,000 in February to 13,000 in March, 17,500 in April, 18,500 in May, 22,500 in June, 37,700 in July and 38,240 in August. Typically, registrations in a given month reflect imports from the previous month, meaning the September figures largely correspond to vehicles imported in August.
Electric vehicle (EV) imports, which have surged in popularity in 2025, especially amid the Chinese BYD frenzy, recorded 4,521 units in September, down from 5,587 units in August.
“In the motor car category, 222 units were registered, with BYD dominating the segment at 113 units, comprising 35 Dolphins, 50 Seals and 28 M6s. Electric SUVs totalled 788 units, largely driven by BYD ATTO 3, which alone accounted for 742 units,” JB Securities noted.
“The two-wheeler segment recorded 3,453 units, down from 4,581 the previous month. Yadea, China’s top-selling electric two-wheeler brand, accounted for roughly 50 percent of total EV two-wheeler volumes,” the report added.
Overall, September registrations included 32,626 two-wheelers, 5,813 SUVs and crossovers, 4,268 motor cars and 3,015 three-wheelers.