No bumper offers on new cars this festive season

The industry is seeing a rise in demand which is exceeding the supply

Buyers looking for exciting discounts and offers on purchase of new automobiles during the festival season this year are likely to be disappointed as demand for new cars is anticipated to exceed their supply.

The industry expects limited discounts and offers, that too largely for vehicles seeing low demand, such as in the entry-level hatchback segment, with waiting periods for popular models averaging about 3-4 months across brands.

“The demand trend seems to be strong, however, going forward it [sales] depends on how production pans out against the underlying demand and the chip shortage, which has become much better,” Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director, (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India, said.

Also Read | Price rise keeps consumers off entry-level cars

Festive season is important for the automobile industry as these 2-2.5 months typically account for 25% of industry’s annual sales. The festive season in the country begins with Onam and goes on till Diwali.

“This period is very important and I believe this year also we will see very good numbers… So far, in the Onam period, we have received over 12,000 bookings, which is 10-15% above last year… Retail growth should also be 10-15% higher but it all depends on the production,” Mr. Srivastava added.

Maruti Suzuki currently has pending bookings of around 3,77,500 units, while the number is estimated to be about 7,00,000 units for the entire industry.