After witnessing healthy off-take conditions during the festive season, auto major Maruti Suzuki foresees sales momentum to continue till December-end.
Accordingly, the passenger vehicle giant has achieved both sequential as well as yearly growth in sales during this year’s festive season.
In a conversation with IANS, cited that pent-up demand has not yet diminished which is expected to drive the sales momentum along with faster acceleration in overall economic recovery.
“Looking at the booking and the enquiry levels, we expect conducive demand conditions to sustain till December-end," Srivastava said.
“Factors such as shift from shared to personal mobility, higher discretionary spending due to increased savings, pent up demand and low interest rates have all played a role in giving a push to the sales momentum."
However, he cautioned that future sales’ trend will depend on the dynamic nature of the pandemic.
“The upside in sentiment has been witnessed during the festive season, however, now the downside such as reimposition of night curfews in few states as well as ambiguity over the vaccines’ availability are coming into play. These factors will determine the future sales’ trajectory."
Nevertheless, the auto major has been able to sell more vehicles in the main festive season spanning from October 17 to November 16 than during the corresponding period of the previous year.
Even the marriage season during November-January period and chances of a greater transmission of previous repo cuts into lower lending rates has brightened the company’s prospects.
“The overall pent up demand has not yet diminished, as retail was practically shut during Q1FY21 and gradual recovery only took place from Q2 onwards," he said.
Last month, the company’s total sales rose by 18.9 per cent to 1,82,448 units as against 1,53,435 units sold in October 2019.
Domestic sales of the company, including sales to other original equipment manufacturers (OEM) stood at 1,72,862 units, 19.8 per cent higher on a year-on-year basis.
Besides, the auto major has garnered enough bookings, that currently the company holds 50 per cent market share of the passenger vehicle segment in India.
Consequently, the auto mammoth had to swiftly increase production level to keep up with demand.
“Our production level has increased on a sequential basis. We are keeping production at an optimal level in view of the dynamic demand scenario," Srivastava said.
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“We still have a waiting period for some of our models such as Brezza. However, it can not be generalised since every geography has a different waiting period even for the same vehicle."
In addition, Srivastava said the company’s new subscription model stands to gain from the pandemic-triggered shift in consumer preference from shared to personal mobility.
Recently, the auto major launched its ‘Subscribe’ service in four more cities — Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
Earlier, the company had launched the service in major cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune.
The initiative allows a customer to use a brand-new car without actually owning it.
Under the terms, a customer availing the service needs to pay an all-inclusive monthly fee that comprehensively covers maintenance and insurance for the complete tenure.
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