CHENNAI: The 16-49 tonne heavy duty truck segment has grown so well that it has already crossed its earlier 2011-12 peak. According to SIAM data, the heavy duty truck segment clocked 2,67,390 units last fiscal, up 19% from 2,24,000 units the year before. This is higher than its earlier 2011-12 peak of 2,40,000 units.

Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV) MD & CEO Vinod Aggarwal said, “The move to GST has triggered a migration to larger vehicles to make transportation more efficient and that migration continues fueling demand for heavy duty vehicles.” All the other segments in the commercial vehicle market — including the 5-15 tonne light and medium duty vehicles, and the sub-5 tonne light trucks and buses — are yet to cross their earlier peaks.

Fiscal year 2011-12 is considered the peak year for the commercial vehicle market. The entire truck market went into a slowdown thereafter and it is only in 2016-17 and 2017-18 that demand has bounced back smartly. The demand for heavy duty trucks means that this segment is already one-third of the total truck market in volume terms. And although other segments like light and medium trucks have also grown sharply, the actual numbers are smaller and lower than their previous peaks.

“Last year, the 16-49 tonne heavy duty truck segment grew to 2,67,390 units, crossing its 2011-12 peak of 2,40,000 units. The 5-15 tonne light and medium duty segment grew 28% to 93,744 units but it was still lower than the 2011-12 high of 1,05,720 units. The 3.5-5 tonne light trucks clocked around 4,86,840 units, which is also lower than its earlier peak of 5,25,000 units in 2012-13,” Aggarwal said.

Even the bus segment is yet to catch up with its earlier peak. “The bus segment last year saw sales of 62,000 units, whereas its earlier peak was 72,000 units the year before,” said Aggarwal.

Value-wise, the heavy duty segment is already 50% of the truck market even though volume-wise it is onethird. Not surprisingly, VECV is betting big on the segment in terms of products. The company launched two products in the Pro 6000 category on Wednesday — the Eicher Pro 6049 in the 6x4 tractor category and the Eicher Pro 6041, a 41-tonnage rigid haulage truck.

