Truck, bus sales by top-5 manufacturers up 64% to 65,540 units in April

Though growth was seen across segments, big sales push came from small CVs used for last-mile delivery as demand from e-commerce firms remained strong

Extending the previous months’ trend, commercial vehicle sales advanced at a brisk pace in April year-on-year led by the last year’s low base, pick-up in infrastructure sector and economic activities.

Cumulative dispatches at the top five manufacturers including Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra and Mahindra, Volvo Eicher and Maruti Suzuki India, advanced 64.4 per cent to 65,540 units during the month, according to monthly sales released data by the companies on Monday.

Though growth was seen across segments, the big sales push came from small commercial vehicles used for last-mile delivery as demand from e-commerce firms deploying those vehicles remainedstrong.  Though on a low base, recovery in the bus segment one of the worst affected by the pandemic, also inched up year-on-year. Tata Motors for instance saw deliveries of SCV and pick-up jump to 14711 units from 6930 units the year before. Others saw a similar trend.

With the government's thrust on infrastructure (public sector capex), private capex cycle revival and strong order book prospects, we expect PV and CV space in particular to witness a healthy pick in sales volume, going forward. Near term bumps however, in terms of fuel inflation, commodity inflation and semiconductor supply will be the key monitorables, Shashank Kanodia, analysts at ICICI Direct Research wrote in a recent report.