The festive season has brought some relief to automakers, with passenger vehicle makers witnessing up to a 50% jump in retail sales during the Diwali period — driven mainly by high discounts — as compared to the festive season last year.
Even though this growth comes on a low base of last year, it should be noted that auto sales have been declining for nearly a year.
“We are happy to share that customers have responded well to our festive offers as reflected in 50% more retail in the Diwali period. Additionally, to double this joy, the day of Dhanteras alone witnessed a retail growth of 49%,” a Tata Motors spokesperson told The Hindu .
While the company did not share absolute numbers, the spokesperson said given the increasing interest of customers, the auto giant was “cautiously optimistic of more growth while the offers last.”
Dhanteras delivery
Likewise, Mahindra and Mahindra said that on the day of Dhanteras (October 25), the company delivered close to 13,500 vehicles across the country.
“This figure was substantially higher than the deliveries last year on Dhanteras,” the company added.
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki did not comment on the number of vehicles sold, but said that sales had picked up this festive season and, compared with the previous festive season, it expected sales to be “marginally positive, thanks to the biggest promotions ever had.”
Hyundai Motor India had sold about 12,500 cars on Dhanteras alone, which was nearly 31% of the company’s monthly sales in September.
Rakesh Srivastava, managing director, Nissan India, said following the launch of new model variants along with special financing offers, the company was seeing high traction in the form of increased enquiries across the country, including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
