COFFEE WITH CAR RUN..........
There are, but two things that tremendously trigger car sales in Tapi town. One is Dassera and the other is Depreciation.
While the former is for a joyful, pious, good omen reason to buy; the latter on the other hand is purely business.
As March ending nears, every year, Surti Lalas scramble to show purchases that will lead to more income tax depreciation in their tax record adjustments, officially.
Since car companies also want that bright spot in the fiscal year, it’s a twin win situation. This rush boosts their final year ending sales.
Last December, laws for the purchase policy in the automobile industry were changed as an anti recession move. This has triggered even further sales of four wheelers from the tax benefit point of view.
Our blue eyed boy Rahul Gandhi’s recent Surat parikrama, led to a new fad of SUV fashion and all Surti Lalas worth their salts have made sure that they booked one for themselves .Leading car showrooms have confirmed that the demand for suv’s since then has gone up twice as much. Lalas have also had the added benefit of saving up to 3.75 lacs. Since prices for the Suv’s is to go up post March. Lalas now hope to proudly drive around in a look that said,’mine is bigger than yours’.
The aam aadmi is having the last laugh though, with the biggie of tiny technology and bitten by the Tata love bug Nano ,Surti Lalas will have competition in the common man and woman for that matter, looking up with national pride and proudly saying ,’mine is smaller than yours.’
Talking about women, most lalarinas do not care what cc their car is, as long as they get to go to and fro from VLCC in it.
Lalas cleverly make their wives feel like a ‘madamji’ by chivalrously offering a 24/7 chauffer to drive them around. Truth of the matter is, they don’t trust their beauties with anybody; I mean the cars of course not their better halves.
Rolls Royce and most other super luxury cars are not going to lower car sales target for India this year. Since January, car sales in the country seem to have jumped by 22 percent. Surti car dealers have been smiling in delight.
Bardoli’s second hand car market at linear bus stand though, has seen better days.Alongwith the N.R.Is, car sales too have trickled in the past year, unlike before when it was flooded with ready buyers with quick cash. Even luring the present ones with Bardoli’s famous ‘Bharkhadevi American dry fruit ice cream’ is not getting them any buyers as such.
Surti dealers do not need to tempt their ever ready buyers that much. Other than the offer of easy loan, basket of freebie accessories, dull cushions and cute toys, all the potential buyer is offered is a cup of tea or coffee with a free test drive car run.
The coffee at most of our leading car showrooms tastes like ,’dudhpak’.The late Behram Contractor-Busybee,Mumbai’s ace writer once wrote that ,’in the olden days, Mumbai’s India coffee house was the place where car dealers struck the maximum deals and more cars were bought and sold than coffee.’
It’s March ending dearies, and in Lalaland, the case with coffees and cars is exactly the same.