Ashok Leyland MD sees CV sales crossing pre-pandemic peak in FY26

Shenu Agarwal said India's CV industry is poised to surpass the FY19 peak in FY26, supported by GST measures and robust retail demand despite short-term market complexities

The commercial vehicle (CV) industry is expected to surpass its pre-pandemic peak in overall volume sales in the current financial year, supported by the recent Goods and Services Tax (GST) push, Ashok Leyland Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Shenu Agarwal said on Thursday at the 65th annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

 

In 2018-19, CV sales in India peaked at 1,007,319 units, according to SIAM data.

 

In 2024-25, sales stood at 956,671 units, down 1.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). In the first quarter of 2025-26, volumes slipped 0.6 per cent Y-o-Y to 223,215 units.

 

Asked about the growth outlook for the second half of the current financial year in light of the GST push, Agarwal said: “I think we will have to see what is happening till the end of November because there are a lot of factors at play. Our (CV) industry is very complex. It works on pure rationale rather than sentiments.”

 

“So, once the rain stops, people will come out. Moreover, we have additional complexity of retail customers versus fleet customers. We can then give you a much better forecast as we would have much better clarity,” he added.

 

At the beginning of the year, the industry had projected CV volume growth of around 5 per cent. When asked whether overall CV sales would surpass FY19 levels, Agarwal replied: “It should be. If everything goes fine, it should be.”

 

“People just don’t run to buy CVs based on sentiments. Customers will think and then they will make decisions about buying CVs,” he said.

 

Agarwal added, however, that he sees strong momentum in demand, particularly from retail buyers, who account for 50–60 per cent of the total CV market.