Indians Shatter Records By Buying More Than 11 Lakh Cars This Festive Season

After a rather dull past couple of years for the auto sector, this year's festive season has indeed brought cheer for India's auto sector.

What Record Has Been Set In This Festive Season?

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Automakers in India have recorded their best-ever festive season this year, with passenger vehicle (PV) sales increasing by 41% year-on-year in the three months between the festivals of Onam and Bhai Dooj.

How Many Cars Did Indians Buy?

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As per initial industry estimates, as many as 1.138 million (11,38,000) passenger vehicles, including cars, sedans, and utility vehicles, were sold in the local market between August 17 and November 14.

As per the ET report, the previous peak in sales was in the corresponding festival months of 2020, when consumers had bought some 934,000 vehicles. Demand at the time, however, was skewed due to a lack of sales during the national lockdown at the onset of the pandemic.

This year, demand increased across categories, including the entry-level, expanding the share of small cars in the overall market to 30% (from 27% seen so far this fiscal). The share of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in overall vehicles retailed in the local market during the season stood at 48¨C49%.

Also Read: How Gear Type Affects Car Insurance Premium

When Did The Festive Season Start This Year?

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Onam marks the start of India's main festival season, which reaches a high near Diwali. The data pertains to cars sold between August 17 and November 14. The festive season accounts for 30¨C35% of retail sales for carmakers.

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How Are Auto Companies Reacting To The Surge?

"The festive season has been good this year," Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at Maruti Suzuki, said. Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest carmaker, sold 490,000 units, increasing its market share to about 43% during the period from a little more than 42% so far this fiscal, as per the ET report.

Industry insiders said that although the festive season this year was longer-spread over 90 days compared with 71 days in 2022, sales growth was robust (about 15%) even if the additional 18 days were to be excluded.

Tarun Garg, chief operating officer (COO) at Hyundai, said that although pent-up demand in the market fizzled out with an improvement in supplies beginning last quarter, bookings remained healthy, supporting retail sales in the festive period.

"The festive period starting from Onam in Kerala to Bhai Dooj today has seen a great response from customers for Hyundai vehicles. We have retailed 165,000 vehicles from August 17 (Chingam) till Bhai Dooj. This is a growth of 9% over the same period last year", Garg said. "Our SUVs, comprising Creta, Venue, and the newly launched Hyundai EXTER, have especially seen major traction. SUVs contributed to around 65% of these 165,000 vehicles retailed by us."

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