The rating agency expects the domestic CV industry’s uptrend to be arrested in FY2025, with a decline of 4-7 per cent in wholesale volumes, it stated.
This follows a muted year-on-year growth of 1 per cent and 3 per cent for wholesale and retail sales, respectively, in FY2024, it added.
“FY2022 and FY2023 had witnessed a very sharp growth in volume as well as tonnage terms, enlarging the base. The domestic CV volume growth momentum slowed down in FY2024 and is expected to dip in FY2025 amid the transient moderation in economic activity in some sectors in the backdrop of the General Elections,” Icra Ratings Senior Vice President & Co-Group Head Kinjal Shah said.
The replacement demand would nevertheless remain healthy (primarily due to the ageing fleet) and is expected to support CV volumes in the near-to-medium term, she added. The long-term growth drivers for the domestic CV industry remain intact, like the sustained push in infrastructure development, a steady increase in mining activities, and the improvement in roads/highway connectivity, Shah said.