Ahmedabad: Come Rath Yatra and the auspicious muhurat officially kickstarts the festive season for automobile dealers across the city. Car sales this Rath Yatra were in top gear with dealers scheduling 1,450 vehicles for delivery, up from 1,050 last year. This 38% growth is the sharpest in the past three years after two consecutive years of tepid sales, giving dealers a strong start to the festive season.Two-wheeler sales rose 31% to 7,200 units from 5,500 last year. Dealers said demand was strong across price points, with four-wheelers outpacing two-wheelers in percentage growth.Jigar Vyas, CEO of a city-based car dealership, said, “Demand is strong across segments, from entry-level to high-end cars, despite supply constraints for some models. April and May were relatively subdued due to fuel supply concerns and `Adhik Maas’ where people prefer not to make major purchases. Pent-up demand is now translating into sales. Rath Yatra is an important barometer for the automobile market. The season has begun well and given dealers optimism about the year ahead.”Electric vehicles recorded the sharpest growth. Sales rose 58% to an estimated 950 units from 600 last year.Pranav Shah, chairperson of FADA-Gujarat, said that negligible discounts were offered on models in high demand. Two-wheelers were mostly available without a waiting period with discounts of Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000. Discounts on cars ranged from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000, depending on the model and availability.Demand growth has also remained broadly on a par across rural and urban markets, Shah said. SUVs continued to record high demand.Automatic cars are also gaining ground with share in passenger vehicle sales rising from 20% to nearly 30% in a year, according to FADA.
