Maruti Suzuki has garnered 4 lakh bookings since GST 2.0

Maruti Suzuki has garnered 4 lakh bookings in four weeks ever since GST 2.0 has been implemented. The company averaged 1 lakh bookings per week which is the highest ever in its history.

- Maruti Suzuki has garnered 4 lakh bookings since GST 2.0
- The company has retailed close to 2,50,000 vehicles
- An average of 1 lakh bookings per week

Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer for Marketing and Sales at Maruti Suzuki expressed how the GST 2.0 has done exactly what it was designed to do. He mentions that the number of helmets on the discussion tables is rising and that's a clear sign of how two-wheeler owners are now looking to upgrade to cars.

The company has reduced prices of its cars by 24% or Rs 1,29,600 after the implementation of GST 2.0.

The company has recorded 4,00,000 bookings in four weeks while averaging nearly 1,00,000 bookings per week. And that is the highest bookings in its history. The company has sold close to 2.50 lakh vehicles in this period and that's also marking the brand's strongest festive performance to date.

Models like Alto K10, S-Presso, Celerio and WagonR combined have contributed to 80,000 bookings.

"We are witnessing a growth in the entry-level car segment, which highlights the fact that a new set of customers is coming. The number of helmets in our showrooms is increasing on the discussion tables. Earlier, there was a limited number of customers coming to our showrooms on two-wheelers to buy a car. That number has increased now, and such customers are looking forward to upgrading to a car. The basic purpose of GST 2.0 was to help upgrade the people, enhance mobility and increase car penetration. We need to wait and watch. But so far, it is working, as the contribution of small cars is increasing in overall retail sales," said Banerjee.

"The basic purpose of GST 2.0 is to ensure that the people at the lower level are able to come up and afford a car. In four weeks, we have seen a good traction of two-wheeler users coming to our showrooms. The contribution of entry-level cars to our retail sales has increased from 16.7% during GST 1.0 to 22.2% in GST 2.0. That is a sizeable jump. Even a 1-2% increase is sizeable. But right now, it is close to 5%," he added.

The brand is expecting the demand to remain strong throughout the festive season. Partho said "Some of the models and variants are expected to be out of stock after Diwali".

The increased demand also creates a need to expand the production volume and the brand is using rail transport for faster deliveries of vehicles. "We are using rail rakes to dispatch our vehicles. We have started sending our vehicles to Anantnag. We are using trains to send our vehicles to different parts of the country. Our logistics team is working with Indian Railways to see to it that how quickly they can transfer the vehicles from our stockyard to dealers," said Partho.

The GST 2.0 puts the sub 4-metre models in the 18 per cent slab and the compensation cess has been removed completely. The bigger models and luxury cars are now placed in the 40 per cent slab now.