The Navratri festival has ignited a robust festive season for India's used-car market, with major platforms Cars24 and Spinny reporting unprecedented delivery figures on the auspicious first day.
Cars24 Reports Significant Surge in Deliveries
Cars24 announced 750 used car deliveries on October 11, the opening day of Navratri, marking a substantial 58 percent year-on-year increase. This volume was five times higher than the company's typical Sunday sales, underscoring the strong festive demand, particularly from first-time vehicle owners and customers in smaller towns.
The platform observed a wide demographic of buyers, ranging from 19 to 76 years old. Crucially, first-time buyers accounted for seven out of every ten deliveries, highlighting the growing role of pre-owned vehicles in expanding car ownership across the country.
Financing and Rural Demand Drive Growth
More than 55 percent of these deliveries were facilitated through financing, demonstrating the critical role of credit availability in enabling festive purchases. Rural demand also played a significant part, with vehicles linked to rural RTOs contributing over 40 percent of Cars24's total deliveries. Additionally, 28 percent of deliveries went to pin codes where the company had no sales on the corresponding day the previous year, indicating expanding market penetration.
Beyond sales, Cars24's platform saw over 50 lakh vehicle owners engaging with services like insurance renewals, challan payments, and FASTag recharges on October 11, with a transaction occurring every two seconds.
Spinny Achieves New Milestones
The festive momentum was mirrored by rival used-car platform Spinny, which delivered an all-time high of 1,370 cars across 24 cities on the same day. This record volume represents a 96 percent increase compared to the first day of Navratri last year and is 1.7 times Spinny's previous single-day delivery record.
Pune led the cities with 180 deliveries, while Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, and Karnataka collectively accounted for 62 percent of Spinny's total sales on the day.
Positive Outlook for India's Used Car Market
This strong performance aligns with expectations for India's used-car market to grow 12–15 percent year-on-year during the October–December festive quarter. Improved consumer sentiment, sustained rural demand, and a growing base of first-time buyers are key factors contributing to this optimistic outlook.
SUVs continue to be the fastest-growing category, expanding at nearly 1.5 times the pace of hatchbacks, indicating a clear shift in consumer preference towards pre-owned utility vehicles. While petrol remains the most popular fuel type, CNG vehicles recorded the strongest growth, with hybrids also showing expansion from a smaller base.