Techie Joel D’Souza was planning to buy the Wagon R, but on Saturday, he and his family took home a shiny new 1.5 litre top-end Maruti Brezza instead. “The offers we got on the Brezza convinced us to make it our first car rather than the Wagon R. The difference in EMIs is not much either,” D’Souza said.
The 35-year-old is one among several buyers who have flocked to showrooms to benefit from the ongoing offers, pushing the sales machinery at dealerships into an overdrive.
Car sales surge on GST-driven discounts
“It would not be a surprise if showrooms operate beyond their usual working hours, especially in the West and the North from Monday to handle the extra rush. We might have to put in more resources for things like (car) loans, insurance and registrations,” said one of the biggest dealers of Maruti Suzuki from the South.
Dealers of Maruti Suzuki, the country’s biggest carmaker, have been instructed to highlight to the buyers that the additional price cuts along with the reduced GST have driven car prices back to their 2019 levels. After the price corrections, the new starting price of Alto K10 is Rs 3.69 lakh, while its 2019 prices started at Rs 3.66 lakh.
“We normally place orders for 700-800 cars in a lot, (but) this time we have placed orders for 1,200 cars and even that will fall short. The newly launched Victoris got 500 bookings from this dealership alone,” said a sales manager at one of the dealerships owned by Sai Service, one of Maruti Suzuki’s biggest dealers.
“Booking numbers have more than doubled in the past few days. Even if the model is available but a certain variant and colour combination of it is not, it is difficult to retain the buyer’s interest. We are, therefore, stocking up such variants and colours to meet the festive rush,” said a Hyundai dealer in western India.
Besides reviving follow-ups of older sales leads with potential customers and enticing them with appealing deals, car dealers are hoisting banners and placards at showrooms and their periphery to announce the reduction in prices due to GST benefits. These carry the pricing difference as well as the old and new prices of models.
Two-wheeler demand hinges on festive season
While the car showrooms are buzzing with activity, the picture is starkly different at two-wheeler showrooms. Dealers of Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Suzuki and Yamaha have stocked up on inventory, but customers are waiting for the Navratri season to begin.
“The response is not as robust as we had thought. Enquiries are good but people are waiting for the start of Navratri. For many people, a two-wheeler is the first vehicle in the family and it has to be bought at a very auspicious occasion. That’s why they want to book the vehicle during Navratri and take delivery on Dussehra,” said a senior sales person at Suryoday Bajaj.
A branch manager at one of several Hero MotoCorp’s showrooms was confident that the inquiries will turn into confirmed sales from Monday. “Leads are strong but conversions are poor. We are giving away discounts, too, to pull in the buyer. We will come to know about the demand on Monday,” the manager of Trademark Auto, a Hero dealer, said.