Auto dealers’ body expects array of vehicle launches ahead of festival season
   Date :25-Jul-2022

Auto dealers 
 
 
Business Bureau
 
AUTO dealers’ body FADA said it expects automakers to launch higher number of models this festive season compared to the last two years when COVID-19 pandemic overshadowed the festive cheer.
Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA) President Vinkesh Gulati had termed 2021 festive season as the “worst” in a decade in terms of business of its retail partners.
In an interaction with PTI, Gulati said this time the demand is “too good”, except for the non-electric two-wheeler segment which remains the “biggest stress” on the industry owing to a host of factors.
“If I compare with the last two years, you will find at least double the model launch during the festive season. Moreover, we are seeing a lot of electric vehicles being launched also. So you will find a lot of launches (ahead of the festive season),” Gulati said.
However, most of the new vehicle launches are expected to be in the compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) or SUV segment, he said and emphasised that “90 per cent of the launches (will be) driven towards the SUV segment.”
Gulati termed the coming 4-5 months as the best for the vehicle sales as the festive season in the country falls during this period.
“We are seeing good footfalls and enquiries at the dealerships. No doubt there are issues like high waiting period in the car segment, which is a deterrent to the customer. But customers are still supporting the dealerships despite a long waiting period,” he said.
“Overall, car segment is doing very good and we have very good footfalls. We have a very huge order book, ranging over 7.5 lakh cars in the system. And people are still booking. The way things are going, I don’t think this number is going to come down at least for a year,” Gulati said.
According to him, the car manufacturers in the country have been producing 3 lakh cars per month since February, which is a good sign.