Festival shopping brings cheers to market; sale of cars, TV, refrigerators go up

The economic slowdown kicked in by back to back shocks of demonetisation and implementation of one nation, one tax GST seems to be wavering off.

The festivals have brought back cheer to the markets as sales of cars, televisions and refrigerators increased more than 15 per cent this Navratri and Dussehra from last year.

Riding on current numbers, companies are hopeful of a bumper business in the run-up to Diwali. 

"The consumer buying power is back this Navratri," said Sony India sales head Satish Padmanabhan told Economic Times. 

According to reports, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor, LG, Sony, Panasonic and Godrej Appliances have reported a hike in sales over last year, especially in the small towns. 

Companies attribute the pronounced migration up the value chain to a good monsoon, availability of cheap financing options even in the hinterland and an end to supply disruption associated with the introduction of GST. 

Read | Maruti Suzuki total sales for Aug zoom 23.8 per cent to 1,63,701 units

India's biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported an 18 per cent growth in bookings and 15 per cent increase in volumes during Navratri. 

The second-largest car maker in the country, Hyundai, posted its best ever monthly numbers at 50,028 units, growing at 17.4% compared to a year ago, thanks to its newly launched Verna and continued strong demand for the Creta, Elite i20 and Grand i20.

Furthermore, Tata Motors has reported a 25 per cent increase in domestic sales at 53,965 units in September. The company had sold 43,031 units in September 2016, Tata Motors said in a statement earlier.

The company’s overall commercial vehicle sales grew 29 per cent at 36,679 units in the reporting period, he added.

In the two-wheeler section, the coveted motorbike Royal Enfield sales reported a 22% rise in its volumes, selling 69,393 units in the month of September.

In the home appliances market, the top four firms - LG, Samsung, Sony and Panasonic - have reportedly increased their primary sales (to dealers) by 25 per cent this festive season. 

The manufactures told media that demand is higher for products with higher cost markup, like 4K TV sets costing somewhere near Rs 65,000. 

The demand is also higher for frost-free refrigerators, inverter ACs and large-capacity washing machines. 

Sony has clocked 15 per cent growth in volume sales at its stores this Navratri, and is now hopeful of 20 per cent increase by Diwali. 

The earliest signs of buoyant festive sales this year were visible when e-commerce marketplaces, led by Flipkart and Amazon, reported their best-ever performance. While Flipkart had doubled its overall sales, Amazon reported similar growth for more than half the categories of products on its web site, a report said. 

Read | Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm Mall festive season sales on smartphone breaks last year record