​January 2017 Sales Analysis: How Truck Makers Fared in India?

The months of November and December 2016 were not at all good for truck makers in the country. Barring a few, almost each of them fell prey to the demonetisation of old INR 1000 and 500 currency notes. And though, sales figures have started improving as the cash flow is returning to its normal momentum, the numbers desired by the truck manufacturing brands are far away from reality.

Here is how major CV brands fared in the month of January 2017.

Tata Motors

Tata Motors is referred as the largest and most famous bus and truck maker in India. This Indian CV brand has also made sure that its presence is felt in all other parts of the world including Europe, Africa and South America. But Tata Motors has simply failed to keep up with the CV sales in India.

As compared to 30,670 trucks and buses it had sold in January 2016, Tata Motors managed to sell only 28,521 units in January 2017. This decline in sales figures can easily be seen as an outcome of the devaluation of INR 1000 and INR 500 currency notes. Also, denying the fact that other CV brands have started penetrating Tata's presence in India, would not do justice to the overall situation.

Mahindra & Mahindra

Mahindra & Mahindra is another one of the largest automakers in the country. It offers vehicles in both passenger as well as commercial category.

Mahindra's commercial vehicle territory is marked majorly by its Bolero range of pickup trucks. M&M sold only 13,890 CV units in January 2017, which was 495 trucks and buses lesser than the 14,385 commercial vehicles it had sold in January 2016. The brand, has not been able to make any lasting impressions in commercial segments denoting trucks over 3.5 tonnes.

VECV

Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV) is one of the youngest truck and bus collaborations in the country. The auto maker has developed many technologies and truck platforms so far, but it is still too early to comment on the progress, in terms of sales that Volvo and Eicher have made together.

VE Commercial Vehicles sold 381 more trucks and buses in January 2017 than in January 2016. The sales figures for January 2017 stood at 3,796 CV units in January 2017, whereas it was only 3,415 units in January 2016. It is rumoured that VECV is working on an all new pickup truck which may be launched in India during 2017 itself.

Ashok Leyland

Ashok Leyland is certainly one of the fastest growing truck and bus brands in India. Though Ashok Leyland Dost's sales figures have started dwindling, the brand, especially after its split with Nissan, has learnt to stay in news for all the good reasons.

This Indian home grown CV maker is the only major player to have remained unaffected by cash crunch during both November 2016 and January 2017. The brand, in January 2017, has reported 14,872 truck and bus sales, which is 986 units more than 13,886 units it had managed to sell in January 2016. Ashok Leyland is also rumoured to launch a new pickup truck in India within this year.

Conclusion

The fight between major Indian bus and truck brands is getting tougher day by day. All of them are currently engaged in an invisible race of developing the best of products. Online searches and commercial vehicle comparisons have further strengthened people in making informed decisions.

It will be really interesting to see how the next few months fare for truck makers in India, especially when BS-IV and mandatory AC regulations kick in in just less than two months from now.