New Delhi, Sept. 23 -- The festive season has got off to a strong start for the automobile industry as customers thronged car showrooms on the first day of Navratri.

The rollout of the new GST 2.0 reforms, which have reduced car prices, added further fuel to the festive buying sentiment. The twin impact of the festival and lower prices led to a remarkable performance for Maruti Suzuki.

"The response from customers has been phenomenal--something we haven't seen in the last 35 years. On the very first day, we recorded 80,000 enquiries, and have already delivered over 25,000 cars, with deliveries expected to touch 30,000 shortly. Since September 18, when we announced additional price reduction (over and above GST), we have received 75,000 ...