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Bhubaneswar, Jan. 19: Posh wheels are scorching city roads these days. Look around and you’ll see several BMWs and Audis zoom past.
Statistics available with the regional transport office (RTO), Bhubaneswar, reveal that 136 luxury cars belonging to BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Jaguar have been registered here between April 2009 and December 25, 2012.
While 153 vehicles of these four car-makers have been registered over the past two decades, 136 of them were registered in the last five years suggesting the growing popularity of such cars in the city.
Some corporate honchos in the city are also driving top-end luxury cars including Ferrari, Bentley, Porsche and Maserati.
Budget car showrooms have always been there in the city, but with the demand growing, exclusive showrooms of luxury brands such as Mercedes and BMW have come up here, apart from some other well-known car-makers such as Volkswagen and Nissan.
Audi and Jaguar Land Rover are also set to open shop in the city soon. Construction of both the showrooms are in progress and they are likely to become operational in the next three months, said people working in the automobile sector.
Earlier luxury car lovers had to depend on Bengal, where they had to buy the vehicle and then transport it to Odisha. The buyers ended up paying high sales tax in the process.
People working in luxury car showrooms have said that the demand of such cars is on a rise in the state.
“We have been selling around six luxury cars every month over the last 10 months. Last December, we sold 10 cars. The demand for luxury cars in the state is rising and that is why many reputed automobile companies are expressing interest to open showrooms in the city,” said assistant sales manager of OSL Prestige Pvt Ltd, a dealer of BMW, Priyabrata Mishra.
A person who owns a luxury car said it was all about comfort. “Apart from that, safety features and good control drives you to go for luxury cars. The condition of roads in the city have also developed and this is also a deciding factor,” the person said.
