Hyderabad: The Goods & Services Tax (GST) bonanza unleashed by the Centre at the start of Navratri, which marks the beginning of the festive season, sent sales of smaller passenger cars soaring in the city as the Aam Hyderabadi raced to bring home his coveted ride during the ongoing auspicious period. Automobile dealers reported record passenger car bookings, especially in the affordable car segment, after September 22, when the reduced GST rates came into effect. Most of them are gearing up to hand over the keys of hundreds of cars to customers on Dussehra Day, which is the biggest day for car deliveries in South India. “Car sales shot up over 25% this festive season, a record high. As prices were down by Rs 1.5 lakh-Rs 1.8 lakh for various Maruti Suzuki models thanks to GST cuts and offers, we have already sold around 1,600 cars as against 1,200-1,300 cars that we usually sell during the festive season with models like Swift clocking the highest sales. We have around 250 deliveries lined up for Dussehra,” said Pradeep Kumar, manager, Varun Motors-Banjara Hills. Pointing to the strong momentum build-up, Rajiv Sanghvi, executive director, Automotive Group, & managing director, PPS Motors, said: “As a group, we have lined up over 500 passenger vehicle deliveries in Hyderabad alone during the auspicious mahurat, which is relatively better than last year.” Vinay R Saboo, chairman & managing director, RKS Motor Pvt Ltd, also confirmed a surge in bookings and deliveries post the GST cut but said sales would have been much higher had the rate cuts come into effect earlier. “We are still getting bookings today and expect more bookings tomorrow, but the challenge is inventory. We are encouraging customers to take home models that are readily available instead of waiting for models not in stock,” said a dealer, pointing to the GST confusion diffusing demand. However, an industry insider said good movement has been seen only in small cars and light commercial vehicles, with nationwide Aug and Sept car sales showing less than 1% growth compared to the same period last year, as other segments have not done too well.
