Used luxury cars shine in Navratri

The festival boom in the new car market seems to have spilled over to the used car segment in the city as well. Used cars sales have shot up by around 50 per cent in October over previous month.

 "The cash registers seem to be ringing for used luxury car dealers in Ahmedabad", claimed Jainee P Gordhandas, chief executive officer of BigGaddi.com, an automobile portal.

"Sales of luxury used cars are up by 30-40 per cent on a year on year basis, while sales have surged by over 50 per cent in October over the month before", she added.

According to city based dealers, sales peaked on the first day of the Navratri Festival, October 8, which is considered a very auspicious occassion for buying cars.

Back of the envelope calculations show that close to a hundred cars were booked that day, of these nearly 20-25 per cent are premium cars.

"One of the main drivers for the upswing in used luxury car sales during the period is the entry of organised players into the segment", Gordhandas said.

Also, compared to new cars which now have a waiting period varying between two weeks to around two months, used cars are readily available and are cheaper by around 40-50 per cent.

German auto major Mercedes Benz India launched its used car sales wing 'Proven Exclusivity Program' in Ahmedabad on August 12.

Mercedes is present in the Indian market over a decade now has around 30,000 cars plying on the road.

It has decided to procure cars

that are less than six years old from its existing customers, refurbish them and sell through their outlets.

The company declined to give out city-specific sales figures.

However, since the all-India launch of the Proven Exclusivity Program in June this year, they have sold around 400 cars so far across the country.

This comprises nearly 10 per cent of Mercedes India's net sales of 4158 units during the January to September period.

A Navrangpura based used car dealer, who did not wish to be identified, admitted that, "With organised players coming into fray, the consumer confidence in luxury used car buying is considerably up.

"Mercedes has been monitoring how many times an used car up for sale has gone through servicing, any parts changed as well as accident history.

"This coupled with service warranties, has come as a reassurance to consumers".

Luxury cars in the unorganised market including BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Nissan cost around 25-45 per cent less compared to their newer counterparts depending on model,quality, age, number of kilometers driven.

According to market insiders, many cars are actually three to seven years old, with their owner opting to go for the latest models.