Delayed monsoon, weak rural economy took toll on tractor sale

-The New Indian Express

The industry has warned that this trend may continue if no stimulus is given to boost rural demand.

Delayed monsoon, weak rural economy, tightened liquidity scenario, and the vicious cycle of droughts and floods have dragged down the demand for tractors, which is already witnessing slowdown since the start of this fiscal. The industry has warned that this trend may continue if no stimulus is given to boost rural demand.

In the first quarter of this financial year, the domestic tractor industry declined 14.6 per cent with sales of 1,91,305 tractors against 2,23,937 units sold during the same quarter last fiscal, with all leading tractor manufacturers posting a double-digit decline in sales.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), which commands over 40 per cent of the market share, reported a 14.84 per cent y-o-y dip in sales, while Sonalika and Escorts posted 17.4 per cent y-o-y and 15.9 per cent y-o-y decline respectively.

While TAFE Group’s volumes fell 17.4 per cent, others such as John Deere and New Holland Agriculture reported a dip of around 10 per cent y-o-y. M&M has been reporting a y-o-y dip in sales since December while Escorts Ltd has been posting a decline in sales from March 2019.

The industry recorded more than 32 per cent of decline in production in June 2019 while sales, including exports, too were down 15 per cent.

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