Auto dealers are expecting bumper sales this festive season amid high bookings and inquiries for their vehicles at the ongoing Nada Auto Show.

Despite muted sales during last year’s festive period as a result of Indian embargo, overall sales for the year had remained encouraging. And with no such disturbances this year, the dealers are expecting even higher sales this year. According to Nepal Automobile Dealers Association (Nada) President Anjan Shrestha, the bookings have reached Rs1.75 billion as of Saturday, and they are on track to meet the Rs2-billion target by Sunday, the final day of the auto exhibition. Last year, the event had recorded Rs1.5 billion in bookings.

“Even the number of visitors has risen sharply this year, with an estimated 50,000 individuals visiting the event by Saturday,” said Shrestha. Nada had targeted 50,000 visitors this year.

Exhibitors said they were encouraged by the response.  Sipradi Trading, the authorised dealer of TATA Motors for Nepal, said it received 80 bookings by Saturday and is expected to cross 100 on Sunday, compared to last year’s 72 bookings.

Sipradi CEO Rajan Babu Shrestha said TATA’s newly-launched Tiago and other cars such as Zest, Bolt and Safari have received “impressive” bookings. “There have also been massive enquiries, and we expect most of them to translate into sales,” he said.

Similar is the assessment of Akash Golchha, executive director of GO Automobiles, authorised distributor of Ford vehicles. “We are receiving around 15-20 bookings per day, which is impressive,” he said, adding the Figo and EcoSport models are attracting customers.

Last year, the dealers had struggled to timely deliver booked vehicles due to the embargo. “Many of our customers had cancelled orders out of frustration last year because of the delay in delivery,” said Sachin Aryal, general manager of Dugar Brothers and Sons, sole distributer of Nissan. “This problem will not arise this year.”

According to Aryal, Nissan has received 35 bookings as of Saturday, with its Micra hatchback being the top seller. “Our pick-up trucks have also got impressive response and we hope the sales will grow if reconstruction works speed up and works on under-construction hydropower projects and other infrastructure projects accelerate,” he said.

Thanks to a rebound in sales in the post-blockade period, last year (FY 2015-16) saw the highest-ever yearly vehicle registrations. The figure jumped 43 percent year-on-year to hit 343,765 registrations, with the car, jeep and van segment recording a handsome 109 percent growth.