Used cars biz in A'bad grows by 50% in December

Buoyed by hiked rebates by authorised dealers, used car buyers and sellers alike have been rushing for the last minute deals.

Thanks to a spurt in used car sales, the year end is witnessing authorised car dealers in Ahmedabad raking in moolah.

Buyers in the city have pushed up demand as well as sales for used cars by 30-50 per cent in December as compared to previous month in 2011.

Buoyed by hiked rebates by authorised dealers, used car buyers and sellers alike have been rushing in for last minute deals before the year ends, say industry players. For instance, Maruti Suzuki dealer for Ahmedabad, Manan Autolink has alone sold about 400 used cars in December.

 

"The whole month of December has been about rise in sales of used cars for us. As against 300 cars in November, we have seen an over 30 per cent jump in sales for December since it is the year end," said Sandeep Kumar, chief executive officer, Manan Autolink - Maruti Division.

Similarly, Planet Hyundai, the city-based dealer for Hyundai Motors, has also registered about 54 per cent growth in used car sales in Ahmedabad.

"Dealer discounts have been low in 2011. Add to that, there has been a buzz in the market that dealer discounts may go down further in January. This has resulted in buyers rushing in for last minute purchases of used cars. On our part, we have been offering rebates of around Rs 15,000-20,000 for used cars," said Rajesh Pathak, general manager, Planet Hyundai.

Even Manan Autolink is learnt to be offering discount of around Rs 30,000 on Wagon R, one of the largest selling used car model in the city.

"Overall, we have been offering discounts in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 depending on models and registration period," added Kumar. According to dealers, it is also the diesel variants in used cars that are selling more than petrol variants.