- Navratri car registrations fell 21.9%; carmakers report high bookings.
- Automakers like Maruti, Tata, Hyundai recorded strong sales and deliveries.
- Previous year’s GST cut created a high comparison base.
On paper, this year’s Navratri looked soft for India’s passenger-vehicle market. In showrooms, carmakers say, the picture is rather busier.
With bookings piling up at Maruti Suzuki, strong deliveries at Tata Motors and healthy registrations at Hyundai Motor India, manufacturers are stepping up production and trying to get more of the popular models into dealerships ahead of the final festive push.
The focus now shifts to turning that order pipeline into deliveries between Dhanteras and Diwali.
FADA: Navratri Car Registrations Fall 21.9%
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) reported that passenger-vehicle registrations during Navratri, from October 11 to 20, fell 21.9% year-on-year to 1.83 lakh units, according to data cited by PTI.
Total vehicle retail sales declined 6.52% to about 11.2 lakh units, though they remained 26.76% higher than in 2024, Financial Express reported, citing FADA. Two-wheeler sales slipped 2.79%, while electric vehicles accounted for around 10.5% of total retail sales during the period, the dealers’ body said.
Much of the fall comes down to what Navratri looked like a year ago. Last year’s Navratri had an extra day, and it coincided with the rollout of GST 2.0, which brought demand forward.
Buyers held back purchases in the weeks before last year’s Navratri in anticipation of a GST cut, which depressed sales in that stretch and left a low base for this year’s Onam-to-Navratri comparison. The cut then took effect on the first day of Navratri, and the sharp surge that followed has left a high base against which this year’s Navratri-to-Diwali sales are being measured.
Maruti Suzuki Bookings Rise to 2.7 Lakh Units
Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, began October with around 2 lakh pending bookings, a number that has since grown to 2.7 lakh after Dussehra, Partho Banerjee, the company’s senior executive officer for marketing and sales, told PTI on Wednesday. “We are making every effort to maximise deliveries and serve our customers,” he said.
The company’s deliveries between the start of Onam and Dussehra grew around 30% year-on-year, while those from Ganesh Chaturthi to Dussehra rose 35%, he said. Small cars grew by roughly 16-17% over the Ganesh Chaturthi-to-Dussehra stretch, and SUV volumes doubled as the company was able to raise supplies of the Victoris and the Brezza.
Navratri itself was flatter. Banerjee said deliveries during the period were about 98% of last year’s level, indicating that the broader festive performance remains uneven. Even so, Maruti Suzuki expects double-digit growth over the whole festive season, which is generally counted from the start of Onam to Diwali and takes in Ganesh Chaturthi, Dussehra, Dhanteras and the Shradh period.
Tata Motors Delivers 50,000+ Cars in Navratri
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles delivered more than 50,000 vehicles during Navratri, including over 10,000 on Dussehra alone, FE reported. The company is ramping up production and tightening its logistics so that high-demand models and variants are easier to find ahead of Diwali.
Amit Kamat, the company’s chief commercial officer, said improved customer sentiment was translating into more showroom walk-ins, enquiries, bookings and deliveries across its range of cars and SUVs.
Hyundai Registrations Up 30% to 41,000 Units
Hyundai Motor India has also seen encouraging demand, helped by sales during Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi. Managing Director and CEO Tarun Garg said registrations during Shradh and Navratri grew 30% year-on-year to nearly 41,000 units, with demand healthy across both urban and rural markets. Given the pace of bookings, he said, the company expects the momentum to continue through Dhanteras and Diwali.
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Dhanteras-to-Diwali: Carmakers’ Delivery Test
For the industry, the coming days are about conversion. Order books are healthy at the three companies, but how quickly they translate into registrations will decide whether the optimism holds against a backdrop that remains mixed. Maruti Suzuki, for its part, says the demand momentum gives it confidence that the positive trend will continue until Diwali.
Input By : PTI
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com
