Shradh effect: Average weekly bookings

Blame it on the general perception that purchasing vehicles during Shradh is considered a bad omen.

Blame it on the general perception that purchasing vehicles during Shradh is considered a bad omen. The sale of two-wheelers has suffered a 50 per cent dip. Similar is the story of sale of four-wheelers. Those purchased,buyers are refraining from getting the vehicles delivered till the bad omen passes away.

In the past five days,while there have not been any deliveries of cars in the prominent auto-dealing showrooms,the number of bookings have also gone down considerably. The average number of weekly bookings which usually remains as high as 50 in most of these showrooms,has tumbled to five since Tuesday,the first day of Shradh.

To cope up with this steep plunge in the sale of cars,city-based dealers including Joshi Auto Zone,KLG and Dynamic Motors have come up with seasonal offers. Each of these retailers are offering free gifts like LCD TV,refrigerators and washing machines to customers purchasing their cars during the Shradh period.

We are going to provide free gifts to the first 100 customers who would get the deliveries made over the next 10 days. The offer is open for any of the cars purchased from our showroom and we are even thinking to set the same offer for those making their booking during this period, said Sameer Thakur,Deputy Manager,Dynamic Motors,Chandigarh.

In addition,some of the dealers are also offering discounts on different categories of cars.

Depending upon the demand and market values of various categories of cars,we are offering discounts ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,00,000 over the past couple of days, Deepak Joshi,Owner of Joshi Auto Zone,told Newsline.

The auto-retailers are expecting an increase in demand and bookings towards the end of the Shradh period,which makes way for the festive season of navratras.

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With the Navratras beginning immediately after the Shradh period which ends on September 27,more people are likely to make bookings, said a sales executive in one of the showrooms.

This has been a trend for the last couple of years that people intend to get the deliveries of their cars during the navratras. Advance bookings are expected during the last three-four days of Shradh period, he informed.

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