Commercial vehicles and tractors, which power India’s economic activity, have reported robust sales during September, indicating a likely pick-up in construction, trade and agriculture sectors, among others.

Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja group flagship company and India’s second largest commercial vehicle maker by sales, on Tuesday reported a 28 per cent year-on-year jump in September sales at 15,370 units.

Tata Motors, India’s biggest commercial maker by sales, which recently embarked on an aggressive turnaround strategy, also posted smart growth for its commercial vehicles last month by 29 per cent at 36,679 units.

Tractor maker Sonalika on Tuesday reported 58 per cent jump in sales (domestic + exports) at 13,830 units in September while it crossed the 50,000-unit sales mark in the first half of the fiscal.

While Ashok Leyland has about 34 per cent market share, its archrival and market leader Tata Motors enjoys over 48 per cent market share.

Ashok Leyland reported a 32 per cent growth in medium and heavy commercial vehicle or M&HCsV sales at 11,804 units in September.

Its light commercial vehicles or LCV sales rose by 15 per cent to 3,566 units from 3,094 units last year, the Chennai-headquartered company said in a statement.

The company's sales from April to September rose by eight per cent to 69,486 units from 64,606 units, a year ago.

Ashok Leyland cited the pan-India roll-out of its fuel-efficient intelligent exhaust gas recirculation (iEGR) technology early this year as one of the reasons behind the brand’s growth.

The company expects the buoyancy to continue in the coming months as well with the positive development in the mining and construction sectors.

For Tata Motors, sales grew on the back of a strong ramp-up in production, growing demand for new product launches and higher customer uptick owing to peak festival season buying trends across segments. Additionally, the sales were boosted by strong growth in e-commerce segment sales and growing demand under the Swachh Bharat drive.

The Mumbai-based auto major sold 12,259 M&HCV trucks last month, clocking a growth of 25 per cent. This pivotal segment witnessed strong growth in demand on the back of continuously increasing acceptance of Tata Motors’ SCR technology, infrastructure development led by government funding and restrictions on overloading, creating greater demand for new high-tonnage vehicles, especially for new launches of 37-tonne multi-axle trucks and 49-tonne tractor-trailers.

The I&LCV (intermediate & light commercial vehicle) segment also did well with sales growing 34 per cent to 4,449 units.

The pickup segment, which sold 5,569 units in September 2017, saw strong growth of 50 per cent with the newly launched Tata Xenon Yodha gaining acceptance and demand across markets. The small commercial vehicle cargo segment with sales at 10,040 units posted 40 percent growth. However, sales of passenger carriers, including buses, at 4,362 units, were flat. 

“The business turnaround with a focus on the CV business has been on the back of strong product portfolio across segments and intense customer engagement,” Girish Wagh, head–commercial vehicle business at Tata Motors, said.

Sonalika ITL, the third largest tractor maker, has a facility at Hoshiarpur in Punjab, with a capacity to produce three lakh tractor units and it offers tractors in the 20HP to 120HP range.

While the company sold 12,056 tractor units in the domestic market, logging a 51.4 per cent growth over the previous year, the international sale went up by 118 per cent to 1,774 units in September, it said.

The company set a record by selling 50,002 tractors, its highest-ever in the first half of the current financial year, according to a release.

“We are working consistently to launch new tractors every year, we have focused across HP segments. We are seeing consistent growth, growing by 18 per cent in the last fiscal," Raman Mittal, executive director at Sonalika ITL said.

michaelgonsalves@mydigitalfc.com