Vehicle registration zooms up by 50 pc in Ahmedabad

Last year, the RTO in Ahmedabad registered 1.27 lakh new vehicles. This year, the number rose to 1.93 lakh vehicles
DILIP PATEL


The Ahmedabad RTO has witnessed a 50 per cent hike in the registration of new vehicles in 2009-10 compared to 2008-09. Last year, the RTO registered 1.27 lakh new vehicles. This year, the number rose to 1.93 lakh vehicles.
Last year, the registration of new cars stood at -12 per cent. And that of two-wheelers was -18 per cent. The reverse swing this year saw a 23 per cent rise in the registration of cars and 37 per cent increase in those of twowheelers. Most of the cars registered are ones that cost more than Rs 4 lakh. Regional Transport Officer (Ahmedabad) R J Patel said, “This year, we have noticed that most cars registered are of the expensive variety. We have registered BMWs, Volkswagen, Audi and Ford Figo. Earlier, people looking for an affordable car zeroed in on the Maruti 800. Now, most prefer Swift, Wagon R or the Santro.”
He added, “The economic slowdown last year forced many people to abandon their plans of buying a vehicle. However, things are looking up now. This year alone, we registered 30,657 cars. Compared to 82,000 twowheelers last year, we registered 1.14 lakh vehicles this year. In fact, the income generated exceeded our target of Rs 194 crore. From last year’s Rs 168 crore, it soared to Rs 215 crore.”
All RTOs in the state are witnessing this trend. Said D R Patel, in-charge RTO who works at the vehicle registration head office in Gandhinagar: “Most students now own two-wheelers. It is also a status symbol for them. But increase in vehicle sales is not witnessed in cities alone. This year, farmers in South Gujarat have harvested a bumper rice crop. The farmers are earning more. All this encourages them to buy more vehicles, most of them expensive ones.”