Domestic commercial vehicle industry on recovery path, sales to grow 12 -15 pc in 2022-23: Report

New Delhi [India], August 19 : Indian commercial vehicle industry is on the road to recovery and is expected to witness a growth (in volume) of 12-15 per cent in 2022-23 (April-March), rating agency ICRA said in a report.
The industry has registered a growth of 112 per cent on a yearly basis in wholesale sales during April-June this year.
The rating agency believes the commercial vehicle segment is expected to continue its growth trajectory, given the improvement in the macroeconomic conditions and replacement demand.
"The growth trends in the commercial industry have been largely secular in nature, but more pronounced in the goods carrier sub-segment," said Kinjal Shah, Vice President & Co-Group Head, ICRA Ratings.
Within goods carriers, growth in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles sub-segment has been spurred by demand from the steel, cement and mining industries and a pick-up in economic activity, as the challenges related to the pandemic abated, Shah said adding that it is expected to continue over the medium term
Demand for tippers, Shah said, would continue to be supported by the pick-up in construction activities, while that for haulage trucks would be dependent on general activities.
On the light commercial vehicles, the report said the segment started recovering earlier than the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment, supported by healthy demand from e-commerce as well as from agricultural and allied sectors.
"The upswing in the e-commerce sector since the pandemic, and the resultant change in purchasing habits resulted in increased last-mile transport requirements, thus spurring demand for smaller trucks," said Sruthi Thomas, Assistant Vice President & Sector Head at ICRA Ratings.
ICRA expects the segment to grow by 8-10 per cent in 2022-23.