Despite car sales in India dipping for the second straight month in August 2011, some car models are in great demand and have a long waiting period.
Hyundai’s new Verna which was launched in May 2011 has a waiting period of over 8 months for its diesel variant. The disparity between the demand and supply has forced the dealers to stop accepting any fresh booking on the car. The Korean carmaker manufactures around 4,000 units of the car per month but the current supply is unable to meet the growing demand. Mr. Arvind Saxena, Director, Marketing and Sales, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., stated that the company has stopped accepting any new booking for the Verna as its waiting period had gone up. He confirmed the waiting period to vary from variant to variant between 1 and 8 months and the current backlog stands at over 20,000 units.
Likewise, Toyota’s Innova and the diesel variant of its sedan Corolla Altis are witnessing a waiting period of 4 and 2 months respectively. According to Mr. Sandeep Singh, Deputy MD, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd., there is still a high demand for Toyota cars despite the Indian auto industry witnessing a steep decline in the car sales. Mr. Singh said that even company’s older models such as the Corolla and the Innova are in demand and have a waiting period on them.
Maruti Suzuki too had to stop the booking of the new Swift after it reached the 90,000 mark. The recent labor unrest at Maruti’s Manesar plant has worsened the situation, as the company is unable to utilize the plant to its optimum level.
