SALES OF HEAVY TRUCK MAKERS CONTINUED TO DECLINE IN AUG
MUMBAI: Wholesale dispatches of trucks and buses plunged in August while small and light commercial vehicles held up, with numbers so far indicating a 7% drop in sales from the previous year. CV sales serve as a barometer for the economy, which was struggling even before the outbreak. However, the small and light commercial vehicles (SCV and LCV) category grew on demand for last-mile delivery, rural purchases.
Ashok Leyland Ltd and Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles Ltd (VECV), both leading companies in the domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) segment, recorded a 30% decline in volumes for August. Ashok Leyland posted total domestic CV sales of 5,824 units, down from 8,295 units a year ago. The company reported a 36% and 93% sales drop in its MHCV trucks (2,132 units) and MHCV bus (90 units) categories.
VECV posted total domestic sales of 2,190 units against 3,144 a year ago.
MHCV is the vehicle category most impacted by the disruptions that resulted from the coronavirus outbreak, said Shamsher Dewan, vice president, corporate sector ratings, Icra Ltd. “The MHCV segment was already reeling under the stress of over-capacity in the market. Low capacity utilization levels because of the lockdown and contraction in economic activities have made the environment extremely challenging for fleet operators,” Dewan said.
Most fleet operators are finding it hard to pay their monthly loan interest and up to 80% of truckers had opted for a moratorium, he said. Icra estimates that MHCV sales will decline by 35-40% this fiscal, which would be the lowest sales in a decade.
M&M) reported CV volumes of 15,299 units, up 4% year-onyear. The wholesales were driven by LCVs with gross vehicle weight of less than 3.5 tonne. The firm sold 15,097 units in this category during August, recording a 9% year-on-year growth.