Commercial vehicle sales declines in March over Covid-19, BS-VI transition

The domestic sales of Commercial Vehicles for Tata Motors declined 90 per cent in the month of March 2020, at 5,336 units compared to 50,917 units in March 2019

The commercial vehicle industry in the country continued to register a decline in sales during the month of March, owing to the impact of Covid-19 and the planned transition to BS VI. Domestic sales for the entire financial year was declined for major players, though retail sales for companies like Tata Motors had gone ahead of the wholesale.

Tata Motors' domestic CV sales declined 90 per cent in March, to 5,336 units from 50,917 units a year ago. M&HCV sales declined 90 per cent to 1,601 units in March from 15,327 units in the same month last year. Domestic sales for the full year ended March 31, FY20 dropped 34 per cent to 310,855 units from 468,692 the previous year. M&HCV sales during the same period were down 50 per cent to 75,485 units.

Girish Wagh, president, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, said, "Domestic sales in March 2020 stood at 5,336 units, deeply impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown and the planned transition to BS VI. Retail sales were significantly ahead of wholesale (more than 300 per cent)." Retail was 16 per cent higher than the offtake for the entire year.

Almost all BS IV vehicles in the ecosystem have been retailed, though some await registration which had halted due to the lockdown.

Production of BS VI vehicles is on track and the company has sold the initial few BS VI vehicles in bulk.

"Our focus is to secure an extensive business continuity plan to ensure full support to all our customers, particularly those transporting essentials during this challenging period," he added.

Ashok Leyland domestic sales dropped by 91 per cent to 1,787 units in March 2020 from 20,521 units, a year ago. The drop was led by M&HCV trucks which were down 93 per cent to 899 units from 13,134 a year ago, while bus sales dropped by 71 per cent to 599 units from 2,101 units. Light Commercial Vehicles were down 95 per cent to 289 units from 5,286 a year ago.

Domestic M&HCV sales the year ended March 2020 saw a decline of 46 per cent to 71,421 units compared to 1,31,936 units in the same period last year. M&HCV trucks saw a decline of 54 per cent to 53,266 units during the year, while M&HCV bus sales witnessed a 11 per cent increase to 18,155 unit. Total CV domestic sales volume dropped 37 per cent to 1,16,333 units during the 12 months ended March 2020, compared to 1,85,065 units during same period previous year.

Mahindra and Mahindra, posted a 90 per cent decline in Commercial Vehicles segment during the month, and sold 2,325 vehicles in March 2020, as against 24,423 vehicles in March 2019. During the year till March, the decline has been 20 per cent to 1,99,135 units compared to 2,48,601 during the same period last year. M&HCV sales of the company saw a 100 per cent decline to four units during the month of March, 2020, compared to 917 units in March, 2019. Year to date, in FY20, the MHCV sales declined 53 per cent to 5097 units compared to 10,838 units during the pervious financial year.

Eicher CV sales dropped by 81 per cent to 1,409 units during the month of March 2020 from 7,329 units, a year ago. Export of Volvo  dropped by 95 per cent to 23 units from 131 units. Total sales dropped by 83 per cent to 1,499 units from 8,676 units, a year ago. For the year ended March 2020, the domestic Eicher business degrew 30.3 per cent to 43,046 units compared to 61,733 units in same period last year.