Despite various banks withdrawing from commercial vehicle segment due to high delinquencies, Eicher Motors posted an 8.64%-increase in sales of commercial vehicles at 2,677 units in June as against 2,464 units during June in 2007. Domestic sales went up by 7.09% to 2,432 units as compared to 2,271 units in the same period a year ago, the company said in a statement. Company’s exports also grew by 26.94% at 245 units, compared to 193 units during the same period in 2007.
A significant part of this growth was due to the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment that has registered a growth of 9.78% at 2,054 units during the last month vis-?-vis 1,871 units in June 2007. However, the sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs) declined by 5.5% in June to 378 units as compared to 400 units during June 2007. On a month-on-month bases also, the volumes are growing. In April, the company sold 2002 units followed by 2,063 units in May and 2,677 units in June, a growth of 33.72%.
The domestic auto industry didn’t fare well in 2007-08 with all segments witnessing a slowdown in growth. While, two-wheelers were the worst hit with the segment witnessing a decline of 7.92%, commercial vehicles saw a slight overall growth of 4.07% at 4,86,817 units as against 4,67,765 units sold in 2006-07. During the last fiscal, M&HCVs witnessed a dip of 1.66% at 2,70,994 units vis-?-vis 2,75,556 units in 2006-07. However, the LCV segment registered a healthy growth of 12.29% at 2,15,823 units as compared to 1,92,209 units in 2006-07, thus driving the overall growth of the commercial vehicle industry.