Long road ahead for car buyers this festive season

Limited supply and rising demand have led to a long waiting period, running into months, for popular passenger vehicle (PV) models like Mahindra Thar, Hyundai Creta, and Kia Seltos.

According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada), the waiting period for the Thar diesel variant is nine-11 months; for Thar’s petrol variant, it is three-four months; for both Creta and Seltos, four-six months; for Toyota’s Innova Crysta and Fortuner, five-six months; and for most other models, around two-three months. Maruti Suzuki’s CNG cars have a waiting period of about four months.

In these models, top-end variants can have longer waiting periods, and entry-level ones shorter, Vinkesh Gulati, president, Fada, told FE.

“At PV dealerships, there is no festive season,” he said, referring to the fact that while demand is strong, there is limited supply to service that demand. “Traditionally, in the run-up to the festive season, dealerships used to keep 30-50 days of vehicle inventory, but this has reduced to just 15-20 days, the lowest during this fiscal.”