India – Sales of domestic buses and coaches (>7.5t gvw) in financial year ending March 31, 2023 (FY 2022-23), recovered spectacularly with registrations up by 225.4% at 38,410 units compared with 11,804 units the year before (2021-22). Total bus production reciprocated with growth of 182.4% with an output of 43,807 units for the 2022-23 year, up from 15,510 units in the previous fiscal year. Total bus exports (>7.5t gvw) also grew strongly, up by 62.2% to 10,543 units from 6,499 units.

Turning to the individual segments, domestic sales of light-medium-duty buses (ICV: 7.5 tonnes - 12 tonnes) grew by 249.7% from 6,579 units to 23,008 units in FY 2022-23. While export sales edged up 8.3% from 3,092 units to 3,350 units, production soared to meet domestic demand by 185.1% to 26,184 units from 9,183 units. While all the OEMs that provide figures for this analysis enjoyed strong percentage year on year growth, two of note in the segment were SML Isuzu, with a sale increase of 397.0% and VECV with a sales increase of 324.2%.