PUNE: Residents of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad have been increasingly hitting the road, more than last year and more than even the pre-pandemic time in 2019.
As per regional transport office (RTO) data, between January and September this year, the number of cars registered in Pune was 64% higher than the same period last year, and 8% higher than the corresponding period in 2019. In Pimpri Chinchwad, car registrations were up 55% over the first nine months of 2020, and 16% over the same period in 2019.
Customers and dealers said the overall positive sentiment in the market helped, buoyed by the “faceless registration” system launched by the transport department in June, under which dealers need no longer visit the RTO office in person — the buyer can get a car the same day s/he books and pays for it. “The faceless system has helped a lot — it saves a lot of time for dealers, and reduces the wait for customers,” Shailash Bhandari, Pune regional director of Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) and a dealer himself, told TOI.
Another four-wheeler dealer, while admitting demand was up, said problems remained. “There remain some crippling issues at the supply chain level. The overall production cost, including shipping, freight charges and material cost, has gone up. This increased cost has also resulted in fewer and limited discounts, even during the festive season,” the dealer said.
Buyers, meanwhile, said they too learned some hard lessons. “Before the pandemic, the general practice was to buy vehicles only on festive/auspicious occasions. The pandemic changed all that. For instance, I had planned to buy a car on Ganesh Chaturthi last year, but restrictions made that impossible. So, once things opened properly earlier this year, I immediately bought a car. The interest rates on vehicle loans too have been attractive,” Anand Phadnis, an engineer by profession, said.
Officials expect things to improve further. “Two-wheeler sales too have improved, but not by much. One reason could be that many educational institutes and offices are still closed and work from home might continue for longer, so a two-wheeler is not needed. But a car is a vehicle for the entire family,” a Pune RTO official said.
