Keeping with the buoyant sales of passenger cars and two-wheelers, truck sales (5 tonne to 49 tonne) in the country jumped over 59% in October, mainly due to lower base effect of last year, low cost of finance and hardening of auto emission norms in various parts of the country.
While numbers from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) are yet to be released, as per the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), 19,636 units of trucks were sold in the country last month, against 12,335 units sold in October last year, a growth of 59.2%.
This is in line with similar growth observed by industry players in the country. Total commercial vehicle sales of Tata Motors, the country’s-largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, went up by 59% in October at 30,541 units as compared to 19,154 units during the same month last year. Ashok Leyland, the second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India, registered a growth of 65.8% in total domestic sales last month at 4,934 units vis-?-vis 2,976 units in October 2008.
?The auto finance cost in the past three months has come down from the internalise rate of return (IRR) of 15% to 10.6%. This, coupled with improvement in truck freight rates over the past three months, has brought truckers back into the buying mood,? said SP Singh, coordinator, IFTRT.
As per a Mumbai-based analyst, the introduction of new emission norms for commercial vehicles in India from April next year has led prospective buyers to advance their purchase before the prices go up as the deadline nears.