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Vashi2Panvel.com: Navi Mumbai: Aug 12: Be prepared to stare at the top notch cars passing by you in the next few months. Yes. All that, here in Navi Mumbai. Skoda has opened an outlet in Sanpada, sector 30. It’s hardly been a month since they’ve done so, and are proud to have sold about 45 cars till date. Quite an achievement. Isn’t it? That only urges you to trouble the grey matter in your head and wonder, ‘When did Navi Mumbaikars start to take interest in such snazzy stuff?’

The answer is, “Only 30-35% of the buyers are from Navi Mumbai. The rest of the customers are those who own a home here, but are basically based in Mumbai”, said Mr. Pushkar, who looks after the store.

And for the ignorant, the octroi charges on a car bought in Navi Mumbai, is 4.5% less as compared to the octroi charged in Mumbai.

What ever prompted them to open an outlet in Sanpada, when the prime location in Navi Mumbai is Vashi is what you wonder aloud again. “Visibility of the showroom is very important, and then there should be a proper road outside for the customers who wish to test drive the car. The customer should get the feel of the car, and clear roads are very essential for that”, he explains. With the showroom being very visible from the highway right in front of it, that should do the trick.

As it turns out, they are relying heavily on the corporate sector that is flourishing in Navi Mumbai. “Dhirubhai’s Reliance employees here and others like them are our targets.”

By next month the Skoda showroom in Sanpada is expecting to sell 66 of their prestigious cars. If they succeed, you can only expect more top companies, shedding their inhibitions and coming to invest in Navi Mumbai. The rate at which things are progressing, that doesn’t seem far away, does it?

Sujata Anthony Reddy.