Gujarat: Getting car fast, from 1,000 km away

AHMEDABAD: When Ashish Kaneriya, a businessman from Morbi, urgently wanted to buy a

multi-purpose vehicle

for his daily commute from Rajkot to Morbi, he was told there was a waiting of minimum 2.5 months citing chip shortage which ails the

automobile industry.

Not willing to wait that long, Kaneriya worked his phones and found an agent who helped him get the MUV from Madhya Pradesh. Cherry on the cake was that the

vehicle

was delivered just around the auspicious period of Navratri!

"I could not and did not want to wait for 2.5 months to get the vehicle of my choice. The agent from MP helped me buy the vehicle from the neighbouring state at a small premium amount to cover the transportation cost involved," said Kaneriya.

As the semiconductor shortage has intensified, adding to the waiting period for new cars, street-smart Gujaratis who need cars on an urgent basis are not shying from paying a marginal premium to procure the vehicles from other states such as Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, among others.

Sunny Moradia, partner in a ceramic manufacturing company, bought a car from Chhattisgarh recently. "I wanted a black coloured car of a certain model which was not readily available and the local dealer quoted a minimum waiting period of three months. I needed the new car in an emergency and decided to check for it outside Gujarat," he said.

Similarly, Jayesh Thakor, who works in Gandhinagar and wanted to buy a car for office purposes was surprised to be told he will have to wait for 9-12 months due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage. "As I needed the car urgently for work, I contacted a dealer in Chandigarh and got the paperwork done to get the car back to Ahmedabad," said Thakor.