Truck rentals, after staying firm during the pre-festive period, have eased off in the month of October. Fleet utilization, which can be cyclical in nature, typically sees a surge in a pre-festive season due to goods movements by manufacturers. This surge gradually eases off and returns to more normal levels. Truck rentals on the Mumbai-Kolkata-Mumbai route saw a 2.1% dip, Bengaluru-Mumbai-Bengaluru route dipped by 1.6% and Delhi-Bengaluru-Delhi route dipped by 1.4% on a month-on-month basis. Rentals on most other key routes stayed almost unchanged.
However, while the truck rental eased off, the festive period provided a boost to vehicle sales and despite high inventory levels during previous months, October 2024 saw substantial growth in vehicle sales. In the month of October, sales of new passenger vehicles and two-wheelers surged by 76% and 72% on a month-on-month basis and 24% and 37%, respectively, on a year-on-year basis. The EV segment also saw Two-wheeler and Passenger Cars sales grow by 24% and 28% on a month-on-month basis.
YS Chakravarti, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Shriram Finance, said, “A combination of factors, including aggressive festive discounts by manufacturers and attractive schemes, ensured that October provided a much-needed boost for vehicle sales, particularly for two-wheelers and passenger cars. It was also a month where truckers saw a slight cooling in rentals and fleet occupancy, which typically happens after the big Diwali push. The outlook remains positive as large parts of the country enter the wedding season, which is expected to further drive vehicle sales.”
On the other hand, with the monsoon having withdrawn from the country, infrastructure development projects have picked up speed and new projects have been commissioned, which could be the reason that we see a 75% increase on a month-on-month basis in Earth Moving Equipment sales and a 44% increase on a month-on-month basis in sales of Commercial Construction Equipment Vehicles.
Positive rural sentiment, supported by favourable monsoon conditions and strong crop yield expectations, also contributed to the robust performance with Commercial Tractor Sales growing by 39% on a month-on-month basis and Agricultural Trailer sales growing by 67% on a month-on-month basis.
Sales of vehicles in all other categories like e-Rickshaw with Cart, Goods carrier, Goods three-wheelers, etc have shown encouraging growth as well.
The festive season, holiday travel typically drives increased use of both private and public vehicles, as well as regular goods movements. This surge resulted in an 8.3% month-on-month growth in toll collections via FASTag, alongside fuel sales rising by 20% for diesel and 8% for petrol.
