Tata Motors overtakes Ashok Leyland in bus sales volume

Tata Motors has overtaken Ashok Leyland in bus sales volume in the domestic market, making its way to the first position in bus sales, driven by volume growth across the segments.

In 2016-17, Tata Motors bus volume in MH&CV segment grew 22 per cent to 18,198 units as against 14,917 units in previous fiscal. On the other hand, Ashok Leyland’s bus sales experienced decline of 10 per cent at 17,725 units, as against 19,586 units as compared to last fiscal.

During FY17, the domestic bus (MH &CV) segment grew by 8 per cent to 47,262 units.
The Tata Motors management said that in FY16-17, the company’s volume grew by 26 per cent in MH&CV bus category, gaining 7 per cent market share. Some of the major orders included 1,510 vehicles representing 82 per cent of total order from Uttar Pradesh government and order from Rajasthan and Haryana for a total of 870 vehicles.

Tata Motors exports have gone up as well. It has exported 5,650 buses in 2016-17 as compared to 5142 vehicles in the previous fiscal. However Ashok Leyland experienced decline in exports at 4,877 units, as compared to 6,135 units.

Although there is still a huge gap between Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland in the truck segment, with Tata Motors having volume edge over Ashok Leyland, there is cut-throat competition between these two rivals in the bus segment.