FESTIVE BUYING LIFTS AUTO SALES

DASHAIN came as a joyous period for automobile sellers, with the festival contributing to a significant rise in sales. The overall automobile market grew by more than 15 percent during the festive period, according to Nepal Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA), the apex body of the country’s automobile sellers. Unlike in the past, when promotion schemes used to be the sole reason behind increased sales, traders said there were numerous other factors helping the industry this year. “This Dashain turned fruitful for us. The overall market witnessed a growth of over 15 percent, which is very positive,” said Gopi Neupane, general secretary of NADA. “The automobile market has been doing well for the last two years. This year’s performance shows the market is regaining strength and is getting stable.” Neupane said easy financing facilities offered by banks and financial institutions and a stable political situation of the country played a crucial role in helping the sector regain momentum. “Apart from easy availability, interest rate on auto loans has gone down. This has motivated people to purchase automobiles,” said Neupane. BFIs are offering interest rates starting from around 8 percent and are also coming up with schemes like fixed interest rate for a certain time to woo those willing to buy vehicles. Besides, road expansion and messy mass transportation system also helped the automobile market. “New tracks have opened in some 73 districts and we see sales increasing even in remote places,” Neupane said. Sunil Chhetri, deputy general manager at Go Automobiles, the sole authorised distributor of Ford fourwheelers from Nepal, said availability of a wide range of products at wide price range is among the reasons behind the growth. “People are interested in hatchbacks and entry-level SUVs. This shows affordability factor too has enticed buyers,” said Chhetri, adding most of the buyers this festive season were middle-income earners from diversified sectors like banking and corporate, among others. Entry-level hatchbacks come with a starting price of around Rs 1.2 million in the domestic market. While the four-wheeler segment witnessed a handsome growth in city areas, two-wheelers continued to increase penetration in semi-urban and rural parts of the country. “The inflow of remittance and emergence of two-wheelers as the easiest means of mobility helped sales of motorcycles and scooters increase,” said Neupane. Dinesh Ratna Bajracharya, manager at Nepal General Marketing (NGM), the authorised importer of Hero two-wheelers, however, said the market could have been much better. “Besides Kathmandu and Pokhara, license issuance has stopped in all places across the country due to the unavailability of infrastructure as per the latest license issuance rule. And, finance companies do not invest in two-wheelers until the prospective buyer produces a driving license. This played a bit of spoilsport,” said Bajracharya. FESTIVE BUYING LIFTS AUTO SALES