Festive fireworks for four-wheelers this year

Car dealers generated Rs 1,000 crore of business per day, with a cumulative turnover of Rs 32,000 crore for the industry during the 32 days between Navratri and Diwali. Ketan Thakkar and Amit Mohile V bring you the story.

- Ketan Thakkar and Amit Mohile V

Over four lakh buyers drove home their dream car in a 32-day period between Navratri and Diwali this year retailers did a business of Rs 1,000 crore a day, with about Rs 32,000 crore generated during the peak festive period.

The retails this year are 30 percent higher than the three lakh vehicles delivered by vehicle makers for the same period last year. Considered as the first normal festive season experienced by the industry with zero restriction since Covid-19 hit in 2020, the walk-ins and buzz at the dealerships was quite visible.

With the supply chain challenges easing, the vehicle makers had adequate stock available at the dealership which ensured record deliveries for car makers to satiate over eight lakh waiting customers till the end of September.

Despite a shorter festive season of 72 days that started with Onam in Kerala on September 7 to Bhai dooj in North India till October 26, the car makers delivered a record 8.2 lakh vehicles. Whereas last year, the festivities were spread across 82 days and vehicle makers delivered 50,000 vehicles less.

Manish Raj Singhania, president of the Federation of Automotive Dealers Association confirmed, "the Navratri to Diwali period has been a record season for the auto dealerships." FADA had earlier said the nine-day Navratri festival period has seen new vehicle sales jump by 57 percent. The festive season traditionally accounts for one-fourth of total industry sales.

Shashank Srivastava, Sr ED, sales and marketing at Maruti Suzuki told Autocar Professional, "The industry has delivered very healthy numbers with the increased availability of vehicles due to better situation regarding semiconductors. For Maruti Suzuki, the deliveries were 1.94 lakh in the Diwali season which is 40 percent higher than last year's number of 1.31 lakh. This looks healthy but the numbers are still lower than those of the Pre-Covid period."