Bharat Forge has posted a weak first quarter. Speaking to BTVI , Bharat Forge Executive Director Amit Kalyani says the company has witnessed growth in the domestic commercial vehicle market, which is higher than the underlying market growth. The company has also grown in the passenger-car export business, he said. Excerpts:

Can you run us through the highlights of Bharat Forge’s Q1?

It has been a very challenging quarter, which was deeply impacted by the weak demand and inventory de-stocking in a couple of our critical sectors such as commodity-based sectors, especially oil and gas, and the North American truck market.

However, I want to highlight that we have not lost any market share. It is simply a collapse of demand and inventory restocking. The commodities and allied sectors were down by about 45 per cent. In terms of exports, oil and gas were down by about 70 per cent and commercial-vehicle exports were down by almost 33 per cent.

However, we have witnessed growth in the domestic CV market, which is higher than the underlying market growth. We have also grown in the passenger-car export business. Our domestic industrial sector has also registered a strong double-digit growth on back of the work we have been doing on Make in India, and some tractions we have been receiving from the agriculture and the PSU sectors.

Can you give some more details about the North American truck market? What is the outlook going forward?

The current rate of business is probably lower than the actual annualised business, simply because of de-stocking taking place right now. The North American market is expected to be flat in CY16 and CY17 at around 220,000, and then CY18 is expected to see a good 20-25 per cent growth.

What is the outlook on your defence business?

We are very hopeful of receiving some orders in the defence area. Our artillery gun has been tested and various other products are also in testing and development phases. As the process is driven by pretty complicated government systems, no dates can be given. But rest assured, we are very well positioned in the artillery side and certain other sectors where we are working.

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