Festive season drives auto sales in Ludhiana, but dealers still left wanting for more

Notwithstanding the much-needed push given to the automobile sector by the festive season, the ongoing pandemic continues to cast its shadow on the business, as was seen on Dhanteras on Thursday.

While two-wheeler sales were down by half as compared to past few years, four-wheelers saw a better response, yet remained limited to around 90% of the expected sales.

Sanju Chawla, manager at Honda Pioneer, near Dholewal Chowk, said, “The financial crunch being faced by consumers was taking a toll on the automobile business as well. While earlier, we used to remain busy all day on Dhanteras, we recorded barely half the sales this year.”

“Apart from the Covid-19 pandemic, the high cost of BS-VI vehicles as compared to BS-IV vehicles and closure of colleges has also affected the sales, as the younger target group is not buying two-wheelers this year,” he added.

The usual festive rush was indeed missing, said Ramesh, manager at Kailash Hero on GT Road near Sherpur Chowk, adding that the middle class was their primary customer base for two-wheelers, but they had called off their purchases due to the outbreak hitting their budgets.

On the other hand, four-wheeler dealers reported a better response, saying the festive season had given them a reason to cheer as opposed to the post-lockdown period when the sales had dived severely.

“The business is getting back on track gradually due to festivals. Though not a perfect 100%, we still achieved 90% of our sales targets on Thursday,” said Goldy Beri, sales manager at Gulzar Motors Private Limited.