NEW DELHI: Significant price cuts post GST reduction saw retail of cars and SUVs hit record numbers in Sept with the festive fervour adding to the excitement. Companies say that the strong momentum is likely to continue till Diwali later this month even though there could be challenges in catering to the rush.Maruti, which benefitted particularly from the GST cut on small cars, is likely to retail a record 2-lakh units during Sept 22 (the first day of Navratri) and Oct 2 (Dussehra).Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing & sales) at Maruti Suzuki, said demand continues to remain strong with new-launch Victoris already stocked out. He called it the “best festive performance” for the company so far. “By the end of this Navratri period and Dussehra, we are confident of touching the magical 2-lakh mark in deliveries. Overall, we have received close to 3.5 lakh bookings… The challenge before us is logistics to transport such large volumes.”
Going full throttle
Tata Motors said retails till Ashtami on Tuesday had crossed 50,000 units. The company also said, as per Vahan data, it is ahead of Hyundai and M&M in Sept retail sales as of Sept-end.Shailesh Chandra, MD of Tata Motors’ passenger vehicles division, said the surge in demand “sets a promising tone for sustained growth” in the months ahead. “Going forward, with a strong booking pipeline, agile supply readiness, and rising demand driven by festive cheer and accessible pricing, we are well-positioned to carry this growth momentum in H2 FY26.”Mahindra & Mahindra, which has been going strong on the back of its SUVs such as Thar, XUV7OO and Scorpio-N, said customer purchases are at record numbers.Tarun Garg, COO of Hyundai India, said the company’s sales were driven by festive demand and strong customer interest across key segments, especially SUVs.
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