Auto industry gears up for record festive deliveries as GST 2.0, festive spirit fuel demand

NEW DELHI: India’s auto industry is witnessing a significant surge in festive sales this Dhanteras, with major automakers like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Hyundai Motor India reporting robust customer demand, bolstered by positive market sentiment and the impact of GST 2.0 reforms.

With the auspicious Dhanteras period spread over two days this year —starting from 12:18 PM on Saturday and extending until 1:51 PM on Sunday — automakers are capitalising on the extended delivery window to push record volumes.

Maruti Suzuki is on track to post its highest-ever Dhanteras sales, with Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, stated that the company has already delivered 38,500 vehicles and expect to reach 41,000 by end of today. Another 10,000 deliveries are expected tomorrow, taking the total to 51,000 – nearly 10,000 more than last year’s 41,500, he added.

Banerjee attributed the momentum to the “GST 2.0 magic”, noting that customer response since the price reduction announcement has been unprecedented.

“Traction is very good. Everyday 14,000 bookings are coming. Since the day we had announced reduced prices, we have received 4.5 lakh bookings & of this 1 lakh is for small car. Retail is 3.25 lakh. It has Broken all records for Maruti Suzuki With a growth of more than 50 per cent over similar period last year. Still a few more days are left,” Banerjee added.

He also noted that the company’s showrooms would remain open late into the night, and production is running even on Dhanteras and Sunday to meet demand amid vehicle shortages across models.

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. is also seeing strong traction. Amit Kamat, Chief Commercial Officer, said, “”This year, Dhanteras and Diwali deliveries are spread over two – three days in line with the auspicious mahurats. Overall demand has been robust, and the GST 2.0 reform has further provided positive momentum. We expect to deliver over 25,000 vehicles during this period.”

Hyundai Motor India is witnessing a similar trend. Tarun Garg, Whole-time Director & COO, said, “This year, Dhanteras deliveries are spread across multiple days because of it being a Saturday. We are witnessing strong customer demand, with deliveries expected to be around 14,000 units approximately 20% higher than last year. The positive momentum is driven by the festive spirit, a buoyant market environment and the encouraging impact of GST 2.0 reforms.” (ANI)