Carmakers expect festive period to improve sales, overall buyer sentiment

Auto industry players are eyeing robust performance in the ongoing festive period to lift overall consumer sentiment and set the tone for the rest of the year amid slowing demand.

The festive season usually commences with Onam and ends with Diwali every year.

Kia India National Head of Sales and Marketing Hardeep Singh Brar told PTI that the last 3-4 months were not good for the industry as sales declined compared to the same period last year.

"With pent-up demand of the last few months there and government investment starting to flow in, we feel things should start improving from here onwards," he noted.

Brar said the booking momentum in September was good, which is a strong indication for October.

"And this time, all festivals are in October..we expect about 5-10 per cent sales growth during the period as compared to last year," he added.

Brar said that in the January-April period, the passenger vehicle industry witnessed a growth of 7 per cent, but in May-September, there was