Entry of sub 1-tonne commercial vehicles and the boom in organised retail has eaten the space of three-wheeler goods carrier. As a result the segment has witnessed a continuous decline in sales in the last fiscal and no reverse trend is in sight. According to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers?, total sales of good carriers in the three-wheeler segment has come down by 20.49% in 2007-08 at 1,32,571 units as compared to 1,66,735 units in 2006-07.
?Commercial vehicles below 1-tonne have become more popular due to the larger space that they offer. As a result more and more transporters are now using these vehicles instead of the traditional three-wheeler goods carrier and this has pulled down the overall sale in the last one year,? says an industry expert.
Even the multi purpose vehicles that include Maruti Omni and Tata Ace Magic have lately emerged as a preferred means for transportation of goods as compared to the three-wheelers. No wonder, the two have witnessed a significant growth during this period.
While Maruti Omni and Versa together grew by 7.99% during this period to 89,729 units vis-?-vis 83,091 units in the preceding fiscal, Tata Motor’s Ace managed to post total sales of 11,136 units in 2007-08.
?In the last one year organised retail has gone up significantly with big players foraying into the segment and this has led to a greater need for transportation of goods from warehouses to the retail stores. As a result there has been an increase in intra-city as well as inter-city movements for which these passenger vehicles are more reliable than the traditional three-wheelers,? says Abdul Majeed, auto analyst and partner, Price Watehouse.
According to Majeed, another factor that had impacted the sales of goods carrier in 2007-08 were the high interest rates and the unavailability of finance after various banks pulled out auto financing to reduce the rate of delinquencies. ?In the last fiscal, the overall sentiment was low owing to increase in interest rates and inadequate liquidity in the system and this could worsen if oil prices continue to surge,? he says.