Tractors plough through high growth fields

CHENNAI: After two consecutive years of negative sales growth, the tractor industry is gearing up for "mid-teen" growth this fiscal. According to industry sources, the tractor market is expected to clock among the highest segment growth in the automotive industry this financial year. Tractor marketers say the growth trot is already visible in the first quarter which places tractors among the top growth driven sectors in the auto industry.

At nearly 15% clip, tractor sales growth has been more than double that of passenger vehicles and substantially higher than other top gear segments like light commercial vehicles, medium and heavy commercial vehicles and two-wheelers. With monsoon being positive almost all over the country, even traditionalists are now pegging the fiscal figures at anywhere between 12-15%.

Rajesh Jejurikar, president & chief executive, farm equipment & two wheeler division, Mahindra & Mahindra and president Tractor Manufacturer's Association, said, "The industry has seen a sharp turnaround and should see 15% growth this fiscal. In contrast, the tractor market degrew by -10.4% in the last financial year. Already there is a sharp sentiment upturn which is evident in the first quarter industry growth of 14.7%. But the cash flow will start improving after the harvest and so we expect a very good festival season this year."

The tractor industry had two back-to-back years of negative growth due to a severe monsoon shortage. Last year's tally was 493497 units while sales declined by 13% in 2014-15. According to TMA data, 4,93,764 tractors were sold in the domestic market in 2015-16 compared to 5,51,463 units in 2014-15.