Truck and bus maker Ashok Leyland reported a 17 per cent decline in sale of medium and heavy trucks, at 8,379 units, in December 2023 from 10,069 units in December 2022.
However, volumes of medium and heavy-duty buses grew 30 per cent at 1,723 units against 1,330 units.
Sale of light commercial vehicles fell 9 per cent at 5,221 units (5,713 units)
Analysts had projected flat volumes for medium and heavy trucks in December.
“Demand continues to be driven by the infrastructure segment for M&HCVs, with bus demand also picking up, led by order wins in various state transport departments. Freight demand remains steady but has come off from the festival season. CV discounts have risen by 100-200 bp from November 2023 and stand at 8-10 per cent now, with bigger fleet operators benefiting,” according to a report by Motilal Oswal.
For the nine months of this fiscal, the company’s medium and heavy-duty truck sales stood at 70,267 units, as against 69,650 units in the year-ago period.
Bus volumes reported significant growth of 64 per cent at 11,216 units during the April-December 2023 period as against 6,838 units in the year-ago period.