Hinduja flagship Ashok Leyland will roll out three heavy truck ranges this fiscal as the second largest medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) company seeks to grow its share in the multi-axle vehicle (MAV), tipper and tractor trailer segments.

While it plans a slew of product launches across bus and truck segments, its three launches will be significant as they will come in high horse power (HP) categories, the company said.

"We have unveiled 41-tonne haulage truck, which will be first of its kind in the segment. In the next few months, we will also launch high HP tippers and tractor-trailers," said Vinod Dasari, Managing Director.

Its tipper range has so far been limited to 120 HP. The proposed tipper range will come with 320 HP both for domestic and international markets. It is expected to compete with global players in this segment. The company will also launch 49-tonne tractor trailer with 320 HP engine.

Key challenges

A new version of 16-tonne Boss will also be launched with a driver-rest cabin. These launches come at a time when the M&HCV market has been gradually witnessing a greater preference for higher tonnage trucks.

Multiple factors such as superior economics, improving road infrastructure, a dearth of experienced drivers, stricter implementation of overloading norms and GST implementation have aided the shift to higher tonnage vehicles.

"Availability of drivers is one of the key challenges of road logistics industry. It is estimated that nearly 15-20 per cent of trucks is idle due to the dearth of drivers. Accordingly, the shift towards higher tonnage trucks helps to address this challenge," said Subrata Ray, Group Vice President - Corporate Ratings, Icra.

Also, cost of operations of 31-tonne trucks is about 25 per cent cheaper vis-a-vis 16-tonne truck, according to industry estimates.

Fresh demand

According to Umesh Revenkar, Managing Director and CEO, Shriram Transport Finance Company, heavy vehicle demand is exceptionally strong in the northern belt. Apart from the advantage of GST and efficiency gain the improvement in the northern belt due to strict enforcement of overloading especially in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh has created a fresh demand.

"They are not just replacement demand. There is a fresh demand too, because higher tonnage vehicles are not available in the used segment," he added.

In FY18, the M&HCV (goods) segment grew by 19.4 per cent at 304,664 units. In this, heavy truck sales (16-49 tonne) grew by 28 per cent at 212,432 units. In heavy trucks, growth was primarily driven by 37-tonne trucks and tractor trailers, which accounted for almost third of overall heavy truck sales.