(Reuters) -Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra said on Wednesday that its sales of sports utility vehicles to dealers in September rose 10% year-on-year, after a fall in August, helped by consumption tax cuts and festive demand.
Last month, India’s federal government slashed the goods and services tax (GST) on SUVs with engine capacities above 1500 cc to 40% from an effective rate of 50%, as part of an effort to boost consumption and support growth amid headwinds from trade tensions with U.S.
The revision eased the burden on premium models like Mahindra’s Scorpio and XUV700.
Mahindra said SUV sales during the first nine days of the auspicious Navratri festival, which ran from September 22 to October 1, rose over 60% year-on-year.
The festival months of September to October are also when consumer spending across sectors, from automobiles and electronics to FMCG, rises.
In August, the automaker reported its first decline in SUV sales to dealers in over three years as it awaited the government’s decision to lower goods and services taxes.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki, along with Hyundai India and Tata Motors, are yet to report their September sales figures.
(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru)
