Indian CV exports touches a new milestone in FY’17
Published On May 03, 2017
Unlike the domestic market which was more or less unpleasant for the commercial vehicle manufacturers, the industry has seen significant growth in terms of exports. Despite of various challenges in the last fiscal, CV makers gained in the export department by directing their products to new markets of Africa, Middle East and SAARC countries. Individually, the exports were a mix bag of affairs for manufacturers, but overall the numbers were pleasant.
Though high and medium commercial vehicles saw a mediocre rise in comparison to the previous fiscal 2015-16, the light commercial vehicle category contributed a large chunk of the export share. The sales of CV stood at 108,271 in 2016-17 as against 101,689 units in 2015-16. The LCVs saw a steep rise registering 64,552 units in FY’17 as compared to 43,719 units in FY’16.
The largest CV maker in India, Tata Motors topped the list by shelling out 59,819 units in 2015-16 as against 53,704 units in the previous fiscal, recording a growth of 11.39 percent. Out of these, LCV sales stood at 29,999 units. In terms of M&HCV category, Tata Motors exported 10,318 units in the 16-tonne category last fiscal as against 5,833 units in FY’16, thus making a huge 77 percent growth. Similarly, in the 25-tonne category, company made big gain by exporting 3,792 units in FY’17 as compared to 2,398 units FY’16, a straight rise of 58 percent.
In the 2-tonne LCV segment too where the company dictates the domestic market, Tata Motors came with flying colors by selling 15,883 units in the last fiscal 2016-17. However, in the 2-3.5 tonne pick-up category, it saw a plunge of 15 percent registering 11,015 units in the previous fiscal.
Coming to second largest manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra, the company witnessed a 12 percent fall in the last fiscal (25,641 units) as compared to FY’16 (29,139). In the pick-up segment too, company witnessed a downfall of 12.8 percent in the last fiscal by selling 19,933 units as against 22,877 units in 2015-16. However, sales in March 2017 alone grew by 31 percent due to pre-buying of BS-III vehicles.
Ashok Leyland whose sales largely depend on exports, also grabbed a number of new orders for its buses from the African countries. However, the overall sales were down by 9.47 percent as the manufacturer shipped 11,802 units during FY’17 as compared to 13,037 units in FY'16. Talking about the 16-tonne heavy duty buses category, company saw a 31 percent decline with company shipping 3,716 units compared to 5,366 units in 2015-16. The 2-3.5 tonne pick-up segment too, company witnessed steep decline of 54 percent sales from 1,550 units in FY’16 to 717 units in FY’17.
VECV saw an amazing 23.39 percent growth with the company exporting 8,035 units in the last fiscal. On the other hand, sales of SML Isuzu were incredible at 544 units (134 percent growth) while Force Motors too saw a fair growth of 8.15 percent by selling 345 units in FY’17.
Maruti Suzuki India, which entered the commercial sphere in 2016 with its Super Carry, witnessed growth in exports in comparison to its domestic sales. The Super Carry launched in September 2016 registered 2,023 units in comparison to less than half (900 units) sold in the domestic market.
The export numbers could increase significantly this fiscal as the unsold BS-III vehicles inventory will be directed towards overseas markets. After the Supreme Court ban on the sales of BS-III vehicles, CV manufacturers were stuck with the large 97,000 inventory, out of which half still need to be disposed.
