Diwali to bring MASSIVE hike in automotive sales, car and bike dealers witness high bookings

The festive season records highest sales for cars and two-wheelers during the calender year, and this time a 40 per cent hike is expected in the domestic vehicle sales.

With the festive season, car and bike dealers are expecting a hike in sales, which might go up to 40 per cent for private car and two-wheeler sales from across the country. As per dealers, the period between Navratri and Diwali will fetch sales figures of close to 2 lakh units, while around 8 lakh units have been booked so far. Moreover, as per FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations), a growth of over 57 per cent was witnessed during the Navratri season this year for retail sales. In fact, the domestic passenger vehicle sales according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), recorded a 92 per cent increase with cumulative sales of 3,07,389 units in September.

The total passenger vehicle sales consisting of cars and vans in the domestic market stood at 1,60,212 units in September last year. FADA President Manish Raj Singhania was quoted in media reports as saying that dealers are expecting record bookings as customers insist on deliveries during the Dhanteras period. According to auto retailers, sales rose by 11 per cent in September owing to enhanced supplies from manufacturers with the onset of the Diwali season.

Interestingly, high sales in the SUV segment were registered last month, and the mid-size SUV space. While the Hyundai Creta remained the highest-selling mid-size SUV, it was closely followed by the Kia Seltos with sales of 11,000 units last month. Next up, Mahindra Scorpio remained the third-highest-selling mid-size SUV in the country. Also, the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara registered a warm response from the Indian market soon after its launch. While Maruti Suzuki retained the top spot with cumulative sales, registering a YoY hike of 135 per cent, the second and third positions were secured by Hyundai and Tata Motors with 50.2 and 85.2 per cent YoY increment, respectively.

With inputs from IANS