Leading truck and bus maker Tata Motors expects demand revival in the commercial vehicle industry to improve further in the coming months, aided by multiple factors.

As the economy opened up slowly, Tata Motors has seen gradual improvements with growth in sales month-on-month and good demand in select segments though the full recovery in the industry is some time away.

Tata Motors’ domestic commercial vehicle sales in Q2 (July- September 2020) at 52,094 units was about 23 per cent lower than Q2 last year. However, it was significantly higher than the previous quarter (Q1FY21) on the back of gradually increasing demand.

“While M&HCV volumes witnessed a steep decline of 73 per cent in H1FY21 vs last year on account of Covid-19, we are seeing a month-on-month improvement in the volumes. In September 2020, the sale at 23,245 units was 38 per cent higher than the previous month while 4.3 per cent lower than September 2019 numbers, said Girish Wagh, President, Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors.

Volume growth

With the Unlock 5.0 and consequent increase in economic activity, Government’s infrastructure push, particularly in the road construction sector and an uptick in the rural economy after a good monsoon, the company is beginning to see a revival in the M&HCV (medium and heavy commercial vehicle) volumes.

“There are a number of other positive signs in the form of improving freight rates, GST collections and e-way bills which augur well for the economy and overall demand for M&HCVs,” he added.

The tipper segment is growing faster with demand coming from the infrastructure growth, road construction projects, coal and iron ore mining and irrigation. Tata Motors is also seeing good demand coming from certain specific segments like e-commerce, petroleum, oil & lubricants (POL), FMCG sectors, steel and cement, which are driving demand for the MCV (medium commercial vehicle) and MAV (multi-axle vehicle) trucks.

“We firmly believe steps such as notification of scrappage policy by Government of India may help create further demand and help to revive sales in HCV cargo segment,” said Wagh.

On its parts, Tata Motors continues to engage with customers across all the sectors and in particular the ones which are growing faster. The company has increased the use of digital mediums to reach out and engage with its customers and support them in their business.

"We shall continue to make sure that we are helping our customers run their operations without any disruptions, by providing support on the vehicle servicing through our Sampoorna Seva programme, a service highly appreciated by customers,” he added.

 

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