Automobile sales, especially of passenger vehicles, have shown a positive trend on the auspicious day of Dhanteras 2019, industry insiders said. The trend is said to be aided by deep discounts and recent government schemes. Passenger vehicle sales, which were in the doldrums since late last year, have shown positive sales trajectory this year in comparison to the off-take witnessed during Dhanteras 2018.

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"In terms of passenger vehicle sales, we have witnessed a similar off-take pattern to last year's Dhanteras day," Vinkesh Gulati, Vice President of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) told IANS.

An automobile dealership, whom IANS spoke to in New Delhi, said that footfalls have increased in their showroom during the last week.

"We have witnessed inquiry levels go up. Sales would be similar to the level of last year's Dhanteras Day," the dealership owner said.

Nonetheless, two-wheeler sales remained subdued with rural off-take remaining weak.

"The two-wheeler segment has been heavily impacted. Even though the urban sales of two-wheelers have shown a marginal growth, the rural off-take has plunged in comparison to last year," Gulati said.

On Friday, MG Motor India announced that it has delivered a record 700 units of its SUV Hector on the auspicious occasion. The company has bucked the slowdown trend with its first offering Hector. It has received over 38,000 bookings.

However, Confederation of All India Traders' Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said: "Vehicles sales have been hampered to a great extent and I believe like other sectors of trade, the automobile sector is also witnessing a decline between 25 to 30 per cent."

"The consumer is suffering from crash crunch and banks have also tightened financing of vehicles. Moreover since only BSVI vehicles will be allowed from April 2020, it is making consumer reluctant in purchasing vehicle current ly which are of BSIV standards."

The festive day, which form a part of the Diwali festival, is considered to be an auspicious to buy gold, silver, automobiles, and utensils in order to bring luck.

But, the general slowdown which has plagued the economy for a while now, has dented the automobile sector hard, with sales plunging on a year-on-year basis.