The company is further sweetening deals with festive offers, aiming to tap into pent-up demand and encourage two-wheeler owners to shift into the car segment.New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), the country’s largest carmaker, has hailed the Centre’s new GST regime as a “positive tsunami” for the auto industry, reporting a sharp rise in vehicle bookings and deliveries ahead of the festive season.
Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales at MSIL, said dealer showrooms and finance partners are witnessing unprecedented activity. “Our finance partners are busy sanctioning loans as soon as possible and giving delivery orders so that we can deliver cars to customers. The reason behind this rush is GST 2.0 reforms. This has created positivity everywhere,” he told ANI.
Since the GST Council announced rate cuts in August, bookings have nearly doubled. Banerjee said daily bookings, which earlier stood at about 10,000 units, have risen to around 18,000. “In small cars also, we are seeing very good traction in terms of bookings. Beyond 100 cities, the response is even better. The bookings have almost doubled — 100 per cent growth,” he added.
A massive boom to small car sales
The biggest boost has come in the small car segment, where GST has been slashed to 18 per cent from 29–31 per cent earlier. According to MSIL, sales of small cars have doubled, while growth in metropolitan cities is around 35–40 per cent. Larger vehicles, by comparison, saw only marginal relief, with tax rates now at 40 per cent compared to the earlier 43–50 per cent.
Banerjee said Maruti Suzuki is also planning new financing schemes to attract entry-level buyers. “Soon we are also going to launch an innovative finance product where a new buyer can purchase an entry-level car with easy EMI of ₹1,999 per month. In India, only 34 people in 1,000 own cars. We want to increase this car penetration,” he said.
The company is further sweetening deals with festive offers, aiming to tap into pent-up demand and encourage two-wheeler owners to shift into the car segment.
