The hopes of high sales by the automobile companies on the first day of Navrati, which marks the beginning of festival season after the Shrad paksha, were dampened by subdued response of people. With the onset of Navratri festival, the auto companies were expecting an increase in sales of vehicles after a period of comparative lull and the people of the State capital did come out to buy the vehicles but not in the numbers which the sales professionals of the auto companies were hoping for. Most of the managers of the showrooms inquired by this correspondent were of the opinion that the sales were not as per their expectations.
The Assistant General Manager (AGM) sales of DD motors, Anish Deora said that 60 cars were sold on the first day of Navratri season till evening. “We had set a target of 100 vehicles on first day but this year the market is sluggish as compared with last year. I am hoping that the market would pick up now,” he said. In Dehradun Swift dezire leads the sales in the Maruti dealerships. Deora said that Dezire is contributing 60 percent of total sales of the company in Dehradun.
The manager sales of Divine Honda automotive private limited, Vinod Singh Gusain told The Pioneer that the 20 cars were sold by the company on the opening day of the Navratri. He said that the sales on the opening day of festival were less than last year. Gusain said that probably less people opted to buy vehicle on the first day of Navratri as it fell on Tuesday.
The sentiment in two wheeler market was similar to the cars. The Manager of Mayur auto Private limited Ajay Garg told The Pioneer 18 motorcycles were sold on the first day. He too complained that the sales are less than expected numbers but hoped that the figure would improve in coming days. He informed that Pulsar and Discover are continuing to impress the customers due to their separate segment class appeal.
One of a customer Bhagat Singh of ladpur said that he had booked the vehicle last month but was waiting for an auspicious day for delivery. Manish Verma who owns a shoe shop in Haridwar said that he decided to purchase his bike from Dehradun as the dealer in Haridwar was not having the Black Pulsar.