Luxury car sales up in Trivandrum

Luxury car sales up in Trivandrum

Anju V Padma

Meera Jasmine S

Trivandrum: The motor car market in the capital city of Kerala is on the increase during this Onam season.  Passat, New Beetle, Honda city, Accords, Skoda Laura and other luxury cars crowd Trivandrum’s narrow and guttered roads, displaying a new era of sensation in their lifestyle. Sales of luxury vehicles, priced over Rs 10 lakh, are on the rise in Kerala as Malayalees discover new ways of moving around. Exhibition of wealth is a unique character trait of the Malayalees.

            In the past four wheeler was considered a dream to a middle class man. But now the times have changed and they buy the latest and the best.The car dealers in Trivandrum target the professionals and upper middle class because they are status conscious people.

            Maruti Popular, Peninsular Honda, Volkswagen Das Auto, Kulathunkal Motors, Deedi Motors, Nippon Toyota, Hilton Hyundai are  the most prominent motor car dealers in Trivandrum city providing good assistance to the customers. According to these motor dealers, the peak times of sales is in March and the Onam season. 40 cars were sold by Peninsular Honda car dealers in the last two weeks and 104 cars by Volkswagen. Nippon Toyota Motor dealers claimed that about 200 vehicles were sold by them during last month. “There is an increase of 17.5% in the sales of cars during Onam than the last festive season,” said Naveen, the Assistant Sales Manager of Nippon Toyota. Most of these dealers are targeting   the higher segments of the population.

            One of the main reasons for the jump in sales of such vehicles is the presence of large number of returnees from Gulf and the professionals working in Techno Parks and Infosys in Trivandrum. During this festive season, the Motor dealers provide some attractive offers for those who exchange their old cars. In Trivandrum, more than 70% of people prefer buying new cars rather than exchanging the old ones. Honda City, Jazz, Innova, Corolla ALTIS, Polo Diesel and Vento Diesel are the cars preferred by most of them. These car dealers have tie ups with some second hand motor dealers to help the customers. 70% of people buy cars with bank loans, but  30% make cash payment. Some of the motor dealers offer free servicing facilities up to 3 years.