India sees highest Navratri sales in 10 years

Powered by next generation Goods and Services Tax reforms, the Indian economy saw the highest sales of a decade this Navratri season.

Official data compilation of the impact of GST rate cuts and rationalisation reveals major gains this festive season for auto makers and electronics segments.

Maruti Suzuki’s Navratri sales grew by 100 per cent doubling over the previous year and recording the best ever sales in a decade. The firm reported 3.5 lakh with nearly 2.5 lakh pending bookings. By the end of Navratri, Maruti said it was confident of making two lakh deliveries. The company had retailed 85,000 vehicles last Navratri. It also delivered a batch of 1.65 lakh vehicles in the first eight days of Navratri. On the first day, data show Maruti delivered a record 30,000 cars, its best single-day performance in 35 years.

Mahindra & Mahindra, sellers of popular SUVs — XUV700 and ScorpioN — saw a jump of 60 per cent year-on-year.

At Hyundai, the surge in demand for models like Creta and Venue pushed SUVs’ share of total sales to over 72 per cent.

“Showroom footfalls of two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp have doubled this Navratri with high traction in the commuter segment. Tata motors retailed more than 50,000 vehicles during the festive period, with demand from Altroz, Punch, Nexon and Tiago models. Bajaj Auto also reported strong sales during Navratri,” official compilation shows.

The same story unfolded in the electronics space where LG, Haier, and Godrej reported high double-digit sales growth this Navratri compared to last year.