Car showrooms, retail outlets and e-commerce platforms recorded a sharp sales surge on the first day of the new GST 2.0 regime, which coincided with the festive season kick-off across much of the country. Fueled by pent-up demand and a sharp reduction in selling prices, shoppers flocked to marketplaces.
Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki, said the response from customers has been phenomenal, something they haven’t seen in the last 35 years.
“On the very first day, we recorded 80,000 enquiries, and have already delivered over 25,000 cars, with deliveries expected to touch 30,000 shortly. Since 18th September, when we announced additional price reduction (over and above GST), we have received 75,000 bookings, with nearly 15,000 bookings coming in every day—about 50% higher than usual. Demand for small cars has been especially strong, with bookings growing by nearly 50%,” added Banerjee.
Tarun Garg, Whole-Time Director and COO at Hyundai Motor India, said that the auspicious start of Navratri, amplified by the momentum from GST 2.0 reforms, has infused strong positivity into the market. On Day 1 alone, Hyundai recorded around 11,000 dealer billings, which is their highest single-day performance in the last five years.
“This is a clear testament to robust festive sentiment and customer confidence. Looking ahead, we anticipate sustained festive demand and remain committed to delivering value and excitement to our customers,” added Garg.
Amit Kamat, chief commercial officer at Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, said the GST rate cut has led to a sharp surge in enquiries and bookings, with a noticeable increase in showroom walk-ins, higher conversions, and a growing order book.
“Our dealerships have opened early and extended their working hours to welcome the festive rush. With a strong pipeline of bookings and scheduled deliveries, we are fully geared to meet the festive demand and are optimistic about setting new records this festive season,” stated Kumar.
According to early estimates, the automobile industry, including two-wheelers and commercial vehicles, is likely to have recorded a 20-30% surge in bookings (compared to bookings of last year’s Day 1 of Navratri) and a high level of deliveries, all thanks to the up to 10% reduction in GST rate cuts. This drop in rate, coupled with additional offers by companies, has led to a sharp correction in the ex-showroom prices of automobiles, especially passenger vehicles. Cars24, a used car market place, said there was a 400% surge in car deliveries by 2 pm on Day1 compared to normal daily averages.
The retail sector, especially the white goods segment, also witnessed a sharp surge in bookings and sales on Monday as GST on items such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers and large-screen TVs have been reduced from 28% to 18%. While prices of split ACs have come down by Rs 3,000-5,000, high-end TVs have seen a price cut of up to Rs 85,000.
Blue Star Managing Director (MD) B Thiagarajan estimates that the growth on Day 1 of GST 2.0 compared with September last year will be around 20%.
“E-comm players' big sale begins today and the prices will be watched by many consumers before they decide to buy. From midnight today, our dealers have bought machines for a new auspicious beginning. If things go well, lost sales in the summer season due to rain will be made up between now and the New Year,” Thiagarajan told TNIE.
Since the announcement of GST reforms last month, buyers have been delaying purchases in anticipation that prices may decline. This had severely impacted sales of automobiles and electronic items since mid-August.
India’s largest online retailers Amazon and Flipkart also kicked off their flagship festival sales -- the Great Indian Festival and Big Billion Days (BBD) -- and registered strong momentum on Day 1. Flipkart expects 250–300 million unique visitors during BBD itself and over 350 million across the festival period.
“The Big Billion Days 2025 is shaping up to be our strongest yet. Early momentum is unmistakable — demand for high-value categories such as electronics and large appliances is up, with the recent GST slab rationalisation acting as a strong trigger for upgrades,” said Pratik Shetty, vice president of growth & marketing at Flipkart.
A report by Datum Intelligence estimates that festival season online sales in 2025 could rise by as much as 27% to Rs 1.2 lakh crore, up from nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in 2024 and Rs 81,000 crore in 2023.
“Yes, there were higher sales than usual primarily because consumers were waiting for the new rates to kick in. Our easier return and refund policies also helped us get better footfall,” said an Amazon official on the condition of anonymity. He, however, said that any sales numbers would be available only after three days.