New vehicles on display ahead of Diwali in Patna. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Nov. 1: Bihar may be low on the growth chart in the country but when it comes to car sales, the state is right up there.

More than 1,500 cars have already been booked in Patna alone till Sunday for the occasion of Dhanteras, an auspicious day among Hindus for purchases. The bookings had started after the Durga Puja.

Small cars and hatchbacks are in great demand, be it Marutis, Hyundais, Chevrolets or Fords because of the traffic congestion and these cars’ utility to park and easy manoeuvrability.

Vivek Kumar, a resident of West Patel Nagar, who had come to book an Alto, said that nowadays residential apartments have limited space to park their cars and that is why people are going in for small cars. Leading the pack in car sales is Maruti Suzuki. Showrooms are witnessing a large number of people who are coming to book cars.

Karlo Automobiles and VAU’s, both dealing in Maruti cars, have taken bookings for 177 and 150 cars respectively, for delivery to be made on Dhanteras. “We have booked 177 cars against last year’s Dhanteras sale of 98 cars which is almost an 80 per cent growth,” Rajan Verma, the network manager, Karlo, told The Telegraph. He further said: “People have made full payments but will take delivery on the auspicious day only.

“The most sought-after cars are Alto and Wagon R because of their utility,” said Verma. Hyundai, the second largest car company, has also witnessed a spurt in sales over last year’s Dhanteras sales. Its two outlets, Krrish and Ashiana, together have ordered 310 cars for delivery on Dhanteras. Krrish Hyundai’s general manager Piyush Ranjan said: “We have 250 bookings for delivery on November 3 (Dhanteras) which is nearly 30 per cent more than that of last year’s sales. Out of the 250 cars, there are 180 i10s and 40 Santros.”

Chevrolet and Ford outlets too have got bookings for a good number of small cars and hatchbacks. Chevrolet’s outlet manager Arvind Pandey said that 100 Chevrolet Beats and 70 Chevrolet Sparks have been booked. He said: “This year, the showroom has registered a 25 per cent growth in comparison to last year.”

Priyadarshi Ford’s assistant sales manager Rahul Pratap Singh was very upbeat about the response of the Figo. He said that 45 Figos have been booked already. Saroj Kumar Sinha, area sales manager, Priyadarshi Motors which deals in Mahindra vehicles, said: “We have booked more than 100 Xylo and Scorpios. As the waiting list is long, we are finding it difficult to deliver the vehicles on Dhanteras.”

Tata’s Guinea Motors has taken bookings for 90 cars, which included Fiat Punto, Linea, Vista, Indigo CS, Safari, Sumo and Grande. Around 30 Nanos have been booked,” said Binod Kumar, manager, Guinea Motors.