Commercial vehicles sales volume India FY 2012-2021

In financial year 2021, around 569 thousand units of commercial vehicles were sold across India. It was the lowest since 2012. Tata Motors dominated the market with a share of over 37 percent. The overall economic slowdown due to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19), transition to BS-VI emission standards, and revised axle load norms were some of the contributing factors for the two consecutive years’ decline of sales volume in this sector.

BS-VI emission standards

The Bharat Stage Emission Standards (BSES) are emission standards that regulated by the Indian government to control the output of air pollutants from combustion and spark ignition equipment. From April 1, 2020, all vehicle manufacturers were mandated to follow the new standards to replace the old BS-III standards that were implemented back in October 2010. The first emission standards were introduced to India in 1991 for petrol and in 1992 for diesel vehicles.

Road freight in India

Road freight was the preferred method of cargo transportation in India, trucks could provide more reliability and flexibility comparing to other means of transportation. However, rampant overloading had contributed to many road accidents, the government introduced new axle load norms in an effort to tackle this issue. The new norms together with fast improving road infrastructure, high gross vehicles had become more and more popular in the road logistics industry.