Car sales in Navratri subdued

As the domestic passenger car market is on a slow but steady road to recovery, vehicle sales in the Ahmedabad market during the festive month of Navratri has also seen some traction. According to major dealers in the city, close to about 3,500 cars have been delivered during the last ten days in and around Ahmedabad, the major car market in Gujarat.

The first day of Navratri saw around 1,000 cars delivered, and on the Dussehra day around 1,200-1,500 cars were delivered in and around the city, say dealer sources. The total sales in these ten days is estimated to be around 3,500 cars.

Sukhbir Bagga, director, Group Planet Petal which operates 32 dealerships across the state covering six brands including even two-wheeler brands like Yamaha, said that his chain of dealerships had delivered 250 cars and around 400 two-wheelers on the first day of Navratri and around 270 cars and 500 two wheelers on the last day. "Sales, however, on an year-on-year basis, are up in the range of 5-6 per cent. Demand in the market is growing, but slowly," he explained.

Similar tone echoed in the words of Shashin Shah, the owner of a Hyundai dealership in the city, who said that while there is demand revival, but that is happening in a slow but steady manner. Bagga feels that earlier new variant launches during festive season could boost sales by 50-60 per cent, however, now, buyers are more cautious.

The industry produced a total 1,943,134 vehicles including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three wheelers and two wheelers in August 2014 as against 1,691,699 in August 2013, registering a growth of 14.86 percent over the same month last year.

According to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers' Association (SIAM), the sales of passenger vehicles grew by 4.46 percent in April-August 2014 over the same period last year.

A similar trend has been witnessed in Gujarat, where growth of passenger vehicles has been in single digits so far.