The August commercial vehicle sales failed to kindle any hope of a revival anytime soon. Though there is some improvement compared to last month, for most players it's still a double digit decline in sales compared to last August.
The combined sales of the three major commercial vehicle manufacturers – Ashok Leyland, Mahindra Trucks & Bus and Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles – was up 22 percent month-on-month at 23,113 units compared to July 2020. However, this is still 10.75 percent lower than last August (August 2019: 26,123 units).
Among the three, Mahindra Truck & Bus was the only company to have seen a positive growth, both month-on-month as well as year-on-year. The company sold 15,299 commercial vehicles (+4% YoY), majority driven by its LCV < 3.5-tonne offering.
Commenting on the performance, Veejay Nakra, CEO, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “At Mahindra, we continue to see good recovery in demand both for SUVs and pick-ups in the small commercial vehicles segment. For the month of August, we have registered growth in both SUVs and pick-ups. We have been able to meet the uplift in demand by managing the supply chain challenges and going forward will continue to keep our focus on it.”
The country’s second-largest M&HCV player, Ashok Leyland too witnessed growth in its month-on-month sales. The company sold 5,824 CVs registering a growth of 36 percent over July, but a drop of 30 percent compared for the same period last year (August 2019: 8295 units). Demand for its buses and LCVs were seen as the primary growth drivers.
On the other hand, VE Commercial Vehicles, which does not have any presence in the LCV segment, managed to sell 2,190 units in the domestic market, a decline of 30 percent YoY (August 2019: 3144 units), but a smart uptick of 26 percent over July.
While the overall automotive industry hopes for pent-up demand to help play catch-up, the CV industry is hoping to see the much needed boost towards economic revival to bring about some traction in growth trajectory.
