The market slowdown has impacted the sales of intermediate commercial vehicle (ICV) segment in the country in the current fiscal compared to last year, Rajive Saharia, Head – Trucks – Ashok Leyland.

The overall sales this year was 34 per cent lower compared to last year. The total industry volumes as of September was 1,05,497 units against 1,41,072 units in the corresponding period last year, he said.

Despite the downturn, the company thinks it is the best time to launch new vehicles because of low operating cost, Saharia told Business Line on the sidelines of the commercial launch of BOSS in Kerala market on Monday.

A revival in the market is expected once the issues connected with the mining sector, down turn in the construction and power sector was over, which will in turn increase the transportation needs, he added.

BOSS which was launched in Tamil Nadu last month has been well received in the market with a sale of 100 units so far. The company with a 15 per cent share in Kerala is expecting a similar response from the state.

The company’s ICV truck volume in the last three years had registered a 26 per cent growth with the sales touching 57,000 units in 2012-13 against 28,000 in 2008-09, he said.

To a question on the shortage of drivers being faced by the truck industry, Saharia said that the Ashok Leyland has six driver training institutes in Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, Burari near Delhi, Khaital in Haryana, Bhubaneswar in Orissa, Rajsamand in Rajasthan and Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh.

The company has so far trained 5,000 drivers and made tie ups with various governmental agencies in order to generate employment capabilities of people through these institutes, he added.

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