We bring you our monthly report on the automobile sales for February, 2017. You can catch all the February Sales here. You can also find all the coverage in relation to the automobile sector here.
AL bagged an order of Rs. 70.35 crore for 135 buses. The order comes from the Ministry of Higher Education Scientific Research and Innovation. The delivery is to take place within the next 180 days in the form of delivery of vehicles, spare parts, training and an effective after sales support.
With a stable foot on the Heavy and Medium Commercial Vehicles, AL is now targeting a bigger slice of the Intermediate Commercial Vehicles (ICV) with its Guru and Partner range of products. The ICV market accounts for 50,000 units and AL has seen its share of this segment double to 20% within 1 year. The ICV segment comprises of commercial trucks with load capacities ranging from 7 to 15 tonne
Anuj Kathuria, President – Global Trucks, Ashok Leyland, said:
The intermediate commercial vehicle segment is one of our key focus areas, to achieve our vision in trucks. With the Guru, Ashok Leyland will further increase its market share in this competitive segment.
In a phased manner, these new models will be available pan India. The full benefit of the new range is expected to be felt the next financial year, when we expect to further consolidate our market share.
The segment has been clocking a 10% growth rate this year, and we expect it to grow further. Logistics and transportation in India is likely to grow following a hub and spoke model and this would further boost the growth of both the heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) segment – ranging between 40-49 tonnes – as well as the ICV segment.
On the BS IV norms that come into force from the 1st April, 2017 – Anuj Kathuria also said that a price hike would be inevitable and that the company is looking forward to a pre-buy demand across the commercial vehicle segments in the fourth quarter. However, the cost hike will vary from model to model, on the technology used, and from one OEM to another as the cost structure may be different. The costs will be different for OEMs employing Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology and Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) technology.
AL plans to roll out BS-IV variants every month from April as looks to fulfil some demands coming in for trucks with refrigerated container or a dry container used by e-commerce industry. AL also expects to carry forward unused inventory that are BS III compliant as manufacturers are barred from producing any BS III units from the 1st April, 2017 but are allowed to clear the BS III inventories produced before 1st April, 2017.
Free from the bounds of its JV with Nissan, AL is building its arsenal of LHD vehicles. The company’s president for LCV & Defence, Nitin Seth confirmed that exports of LHD (left hand drive) vehicles is likely to commence within a 6 month period. This comes at a time when the company is free of the Nissan bound JV that restricted exports to SAARC countries alone.
AL reported sales of 14,067 units in February, 2017 against 13,406 units during the same time last year resulting in a growth of of 4.9%.
- Sales of MHCV stood at 11,329 units against 10,801 units
- Sales of LCV stood at 2,738 units to 2,605 units
Note: Sales numbers presented here are manufacturer reported sales numbers i.e. factory dispatches to dealerships. They are NOT retail sales figures to end customers.
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