Navigating Global CV Trade

Rising protectionism and shifting geopolitical dynamics are posing serious challenges to commercial vehicle export prospects, asserts

- Ashish Bhatia

As 2024 comes to an end, commercial vehicle exports are Strategically navigating these facing significant challenges issues is essential for capitalising on global opportunities. The export aspirations remain intact; however, the bizarre circumstances the industry has dealt with see no end. From war-torn scenarios refusing to cool down to changing governments, the threat of high retaliatory tariffs have raised the entry barriers. This is against the backdrop of higher regulatory compliances having pushed up costs the world over.

India continues to watch the developments closely. The focus remains on long-term efforts to reduce logistics costs in a bid to introduce new efficiencies and ease margin pressures. At the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) level, the changes are taking shape in the supply chain with tier suppliers working even more closely on manufacturing needs with the OEMs. The changes are also reflecting on the shopfloor with sophisticated tooling setups put in place to ensure higher output at globally acceptable quality.

A SNAPSHOT OF EXPORTS IN 2024

In FY25 thus far, as per SIAM statistics, overall automotive exports rose by 14 per cent in H1FY24. Despite previous fiscal challenges like currency devaluations, markets like Latin America and Africa are known to have rebounded. Here, the commercial vehicle exports also saw a 12 per cent increase, totalling 35,731 units during April-September, 2024 as per Shailesh Chandra, President of SIAM.