By Sharmistha Mukherjee

Copyright indiatimes

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI/CHENNAI: Car and two-wheeler retailers are set for a record festive season this year, going by the first-day sales of the Navratri festival which also coincides with the roll out of the reduced goods and services (GST) rates.Leading automakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, and Hero MotoCorp, who have sweetened the GST benefits with their own price incentives to customers, are seeing strong demand traction, said dealers and company executives.Vehicle deliveries planned on Monday at most dealerships ET visited across Delhi, Gurugram, and Mumbai are 3-5 times higher than normal.More than 150 deliveries are scheduled-five times more than the daily average-across three Maruti Suzuki Arena outlets of Pasco Group in Gurugram on the first day of Navratri. “The GST cut has been a big boost,” said Sanjay Passi, Chairman, Pasco Group. “We are seeing huge demand for small cars.”Smaller cities and towns are also experiencing the upswing.Live Events”There is a huge rush at our showrooms; footfalls and enquiries for both two-wheelers and cars have gone up. We expect sales to be double this Navratri compared to other years,” said an automobile dealer in Rajasthan.In Navi Mumbai, several prospective buyers were seen visiting a Maruti Arena outlet. “We are targeting 40 bookings today-four times a normal day and double last year’s Navratri,” said the sales-in-charge of the dealership.Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at Maruti Suzuki said the response from customers has been phenomenal-the company is expecting to retail 30,000 cars on Monday itself. He said Maruti secured 75,000 bookings since September 18 when it had announced additional price incentives beyond the GST cuts, with nearly 15,000 bookings daily-about 50% higher than usual. “Demand for small cars has been especially strong, with bookings growing by nearly 50%,” he said.Notably, SUVs continued to rule customer bookings though demand has risen across the passenger vehicle spectrum.A Kia India dealership in South Mumbai said it is expecting a 10-12% rise in festive sales leading up to Diwali.Tarun Garg, whole-time director and chief operating officer at Hyundai Motor India said the company recorded around 11,000 dealer billings, its highest single-day performance in the last five years. “This is a clear testament to robust festive sentiment and customer confidence,” he said.Tata Motors is also facing a similar experience. “The GST rate cuts and festive offers have led to a sharp surge in enquiries and bookings, with Nexon and Punch seeing strong traction,” said Amit Kamat, chief commercial officer, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles. “We are witnessing higher showroom walk-ins and conversions and expect record activity this season.”In Chennai, a Hyundai dealer reported a 50% jump in bookings, while a Maruti Suzuki showroom has been clocking steady orders since the weekend. “We’ve had 12 bookings at our showroom alone on Saturday because we had a fair idea of how much the reduction would bring down prices,” said V Dinesh, team leader at the Maruti Suzuki showroom in Chennai’s T Nagar locality.The two-wheeler segment is also seeing robust demand.Sudhar Mehta, general manager (sales) at Globe Enterprises, which runs 30 outlets of Hero MotoCorp in Gurugram, said the company is expecting to deliver 1,000-1,200 motorcycles on Monday itself.”We usually do 10 units per outlet a day. But this time, we are seeing a 4X jump,” said Mehta. “Usually, for two-wheelers, customers do not make bookings. They come in with cash and ride out on a motorcycle. Prices are in the similar range as mobile phones these days.”Demand remains robust even at the premium end of the market with Lamba Enterprises, one of the largest dealers for Royal Enfield motorcycles in Delhi, set to deliver 180 motorcycles on Monday, almost double of the 100 units delivered per day during festive periods previously.”Usually, we do about 300 deliveries a month at this outlet. But this time with the GST cut, prices have come down by ?14,000-15,000. We are seeing a huge spike in demand,” said a senior executive at Lamba Enfield.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
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