Crowded auto showrooms see cracker of sales

The pair of siblings was barely able to control their happiness on touching and feeling an SUV showcased inside the Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) showroom located at the SV road junction in western suburbs of Mumbai.

They had come there with their parents who were equally excited for the purchase of what would be their first family car.

The sales executive attending to them on a Monday afternoon patiently explained the features and specifications of the vehicles and gave attentively listened to the siblings, as he knew that influence these young customers have in the purchase decision is very important.

As the day progresses, the footfalls in the showroom keep increasing. The showroom is expected to get 'crowded' further during the evening. A day before, Sunday, being a weekend, the footfall was almost four times high, claims the sales executives present in the showroom.

"Due to Diwali, the footfall and enquiries have definitely increased and are expected to increase further in the build-up to Diwali," said Simi Khan, the sales head in charge at the showroom. The showroom expects to sell over 100 units this month on account of the festive season, almost double their monthly sales figure.

A little distance away at the Jeep showroom, the sales team lead by Aatish Shivdekar is aiming to accelerate sales about 35% in the Diwali season. The showroom on an average is able to sell about 60 units per month."The enquiries and sales are encouraging with festival season around," said Shivdekar.

The automobile industry like most other consumer products sees a huge spike in the festival season around Diwali as many consider it auspicious to make purchases during this period. Also, many postpone their purchases to the festive season on expectations of getting better deals and discounts car manufacturers roll out during this period. For example, Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest carmaker by market share, has been offering discounts and benefits ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 75,000. The offer is matched by rival M&M. A few other companies are offering gold coins along with the purchase of a vehicle.

In anticipation of strong sales, the dealers have also beefed up their stocks. The reason for the optimism is that India's passenger vehicle sales have grown fastest among major automobile markets in the world despite major policy decisions like goods and services tax (GST), demonetization creating some hindrance earlier during the year.

Growth sales projections during the first half period of the year have been on the expected lines at over 9%. Increased money in the hands of government servants on account of Seventh Pay Commission and good monsoon has also increased their expectations.

Abdul Majeed, partner, Price Waterhouse said, "Demands should be good this festival season considering many positive factors especially better monsoon compared to last year".

However, the high-pitched promotional activities and discounts do not guarantee strong results on the ground, claim some of the dealers DNA Money spoke to. The high fuel prices, poor economic growth sentiments, in general, may impact the sales, fear the dealers in comparison to the festive season last year.