Akshaya Tritiya drives a surge in vehicle sales

Patna: While Akshaya Tritiya has long been associated with the glittering tradition of buying gold, a new trend has firmly taken root – the booking and delivery of vehicles timed specially for the auspicious day, celebrated as a harbinger of prosperity and good fortune.
In the state capital, two-wheeler dealers have come to regard Akshaya Tritiya as a ‘mini-Dhanteras', with nearly half the volume of bookings they would expect during the Diwali season. For four-wheeler dealers too, the festival brings a welcome boost, with bookings rising by 20%-25%, as customers insist on taking delivery on the day believed to promise success and abundance.
Arvind Shrivastava, sales manager at a four-wheeler showroom near Rajapur Pul, said the number of customers preferring to buy vehicles around Akshaya Tritiya was steadily rising. "Although it is not like Dhanteras, we do receive a good number of bookings ahead of Akshaya Tritiya as well and our clients fix the date of the festival for taking home their selected automobiles," he said. Shrivastava added that nearly 35 units would be delivered from his showroom on the festival day, around 25% more than their usual daily figure.
Echoing the trend, Shariq Qamar, sales manager of an automobile showroom in Kankarbagh, said, "Against the normal delivery of five or six four-wheelers per day, we will be handing over the keys of more than 30 vehicles on Akshaya Tritiya this time. Like previous years, this time too we would be delivering six to seven times more vehicles on a single day, on the occasion considered to herald good omen," he said. Qamar added that many customers were opting for environment-friendly CNG and electric variants this year.
Both sales managers pointed out that the most popular price bracket for cars remained around Rs 10 lakh.
The two-wheeler market, too, is gearing up for a festive rush. Arvind Singh, sales manager at a major two-wheeler showroom, described Akshaya Tritiya as ‘mini-Dhanteras' from a business perspective. "We receive good bookings and customer turnout even on Akshaya Tritiya. This time also we expect to sell nearly 150-200 bikes on the day, compared to our usual 20-25 pieces daily," he said. Singh added that many customers had already booked their favourite models and colour preferences to ensure delivery on the auspicious day.
At another prominent bike showroom on Exhibition Road, sales manager Shankar Singh said orders were flowing in well ahead of time. "We have already received good orders till Saturday and expect to sell around 200 units of bikes on Akshaya Tritiya day. A few people book their pieces in advance fearing stock shortage, whereas many others directly purchase the bikes on the festival day without any prior bookings," he said.
As for price points, both managers said that economy bikes priced around Rs 1 lakh were the most sought-after. "However, sufficient stock of bikes ranging from Rs 72,000 to Rs 3.34 lakh has been arranged, anticipating a surge in demand on the auspicious day," added Arvind Singh.