M&HCV goods carriers post strong sales in H1 FY16

The medium and heavy commercial (M&HCV) vehicle segment in India has been on the roll for more than 14 months now, thanks to a strong show by the goods carrier segment. During the first half of this financial year, the M&HCV goods carrier segment has registered healthy growth, largely due to the demand generated from replacement vehicles by fleet operators and rising freight movement and measured infrastructure activities in the country.

In H1 2015-2016, the M&HCV goods carrier segment has registered sales of 116,418 units as compared to 86,179 units in H1 2014-15, a strong 35% increase.

Indicating the trend towards preference of higher tonnage vehicles by fleet operators, as they help in cutting operational overheads and can carry more, the 35.2-40.2-tonne category has recorded an increase of 298%. Within this, Ashok Leyland has gained the most with an 89% share in the category, which is attributed to the rising popularity of its 37 rigid multi-axle truck; the company has gained more than 365% in the category. This is followed by the 12-16.2-tonne category which notched a 43% increase. The above 25-tonne multi-axle trucks have also witnessed a strong growth of 42.68%.

Tata Motors, the largest player in the overall M&HCV segment, dominates the segment with a 55.21% share; the company sold 64,279 units in H1, a growth of 29.43% year on year. However, Ashok Leyland which ranks second in the category with a market share of 31.35% has registered healthy growth of 65.25%, selling 36,503 units.

Other players in the segment include VE Commercial Vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra, SML Isuzu and AMW Motors. All the manufacturers registered growth in their sales except AMW Motors, whose sales declined sharply by 58.69% with sales of 679 vehicles.

Speaking to Autocar Professional recently, R Ramakrishnan, senior vice- president, Product Strategy& Planning and Customer Value Creating, Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors, said: “The overall M&HCV segment is positive largely due to the replacement demand. Industrial output is still quite low and in mining activities, only coal is able to take care of import substitution. Iron ore mining is nowhere near where it was some years ago. Infrastructure development is beginning to fall in place but it’s still early days. So the heavy truck demand is largely replacement demand.”

Meanwhile, M&HCV passenger carrier sales during April-September 2015 posted a growth of 26.97% with total sales of 22,907 units against 18,040 units during the same period last year. 

In the M&HCV passenger carrier segment, Ashok Leyland is the largest players with close to 42% share in the category, closely followed by Tata Motors with a 34.39% share.

Also read: Commercial vehicle exports surge in first half of 2015-16