Commercial vehicle manufacturers eye heavy duty demand
The first half of the fiscal marked a turnaround for the CV industry after nearly two subdued years, and the momentum has carried into the second half, with CV makers reporting healthy growth in Oct.Girish Wagh, MD & CEO, Tata Motors, said the CV sector’s growth momentum is expected to continue across categories in H2.
The GST rate cut has boosted consumption and improved vehicle utilisation, supporting truck demand in the M&HCV segment.
Mining, construction, and infrastructure activity have picked up, lifting demand for tippers, while LCV demand has strengthened due to lower effective prices for B2C buyers.
“We expect high single-digit growth in the M&HCV segment in H2,” he said.The overall CV market – including light, medium, and heavy trucks and buses – recorded total volumes of 4.63 lakh units in H1, a 4% year-on-year increase.Shenu Agarwal, MD & CEO, Ashok Leyland, said industry demand improved further in October, with the M&HCV segment growing by around 7% and its addressable LCV segment expanding nearly 15%.
“The market is clearly positive.
Nov and Dec should be much better, and growth may turn out slightly higher than the original forecast for the year,” he said.The GST rate cut has also lowered vehicle prices and reduced EMIs, prompting a likely shift among fleet operators from used trucks to new, feature-rich models, said Paramjit Singh Chadha, MD, ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems India.
The LCV segment is also projected to gain further traction, driven directly by GST reductions and indirectly by rising consumption, supporting sustained growth through the rest of the fiscal.
