Ashok Leyland, India’s second largest commercial vehicle after Tata Motors maker by sales, is not worried by the fall in sales of its medium and heavy commercial vehicles.

“The last two months have seen severe rains across the country; many states were submerged,” Sanjeev Kumar, President and Head (MHCV) at Ashok Leyland, in an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV18. “We believe that the sales slowdown in these months is temporary, and we are confident of a comeback. In fact, we always expected Q1 and Q2 of FY25 to be subdued and markets to pick up from H2 onwards.” You can watch the whole interview in the accompanying video.

ALSO READ: EVs are the weapons and shields in the global game of thrones

The company’s share price is down 4.6% in the last one week, especially after the latest sales numbers came in. Notwithstanding the recent slump in sales, several commercial vehicle makers remain optimistic and hold on to the projections made after the election results in June 2024.

A slowdown in the government’s capital expenditure since April 2024 has been another reason for the lack of demand for commercial vehicles.

For example, a large infrastructure or construction project would need trucks, trailers, and mixers, to name a few. “We are talking to customers on the ground, and getting a sense that these proposals are slowly taking off,” said Sanjeev, “It is only a matter of time before MHCV sales pick up again – we expect H2 of FY25 to be good for CVs.”

On September 3, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also told various departments, including telecom, roads and highways, to make up the shortfall in capex by December.

ALSO READ: How to make electric vehicles truly green — here are the challenges and solutions