Car sale reaches dizzy heights

AHMEDABAD/VADODARA/SURAT: Stepping into his brand new car was a milestone for pharma executive Ganpat Anchaliya, which is why he decided to wait for weeks for that special moment to get behind the wheel.
"All major events in life should be done on an auspicious day and today is doubly auspicious with Navmi and Dussehra falling on the same day," says an excited Anchaliya as he waited to grab the keys to his red Honda City.Navinchandra Patel (55), too, decided to wait for the stars to get into the right alignment to upgrade from his Zen to Wagon-R.
"Today is a good muhurat for embarking on any new journey," explained Patel. Buyers were seen making a beeline to car showrooms in hordes, sending car sales skyrocketing on Wednesday. Rolling out the red carpet for eager customers were automobile dealers with decked up showrooms, and generous helpings of fafdas and jalebis to keep the waiting customers happy.
Sanjay Thakkar of Landmark Honda flew down specially from Mumbai to ensure a smooth hand-over to customers. He handed out keys to 53 brand new cars, almost double than last year.
Ahmedab ad-based Kataria Automobiles had over 225 new customers hopping in and driving out with their dream cars, even as Ravi Suri of Cargo Motors had his hands full, delivering over 100 cars on Wednesday.
"It's been a busy day as people have been pouring in since 8 am," says an excited Suri, who's seen a 20 per cent jump in sales this Dussehra. Ditto for Derek Paul of Concept Hyundai, who spent the day handing out keys to 55 cars, 25 per cent more than last year.
"We also got 10 bookings today," he added. Infinium Toyota's Malav Mehta delivered 45 Innovas. Car dealerships in Vadodara saw a steep 20 per cent jump this day and dealers expect the rush to continue till Diwali. Vinod John, sales manager of AS Motors Mahindra, says, "Sale is up 20 per cent.
We are finding it difficult to match supply to the demand." Shwetal Patel of Downtown Hyundai, who delivered 45 cars, is happy with the unexpected rush. "Luckily, the inquiries are not ending with Dussehra. People are also booking vehicles today."
Amin Ford's Vikram Gandhi gushed, "The inquiries are rising with each passing hour." In Surat, all that sparkled on Dussehra were cars as sales zoomed 40 per cent. Dhru Motors near Udhana sold over 100 Maruti cars and prospective buyers were still trooping in late evening. Kiran Motors found buyers driving off with 85 cars.