Neeraj Kanwar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Apollo Tyres, expressed that now is the opportune moment for India to strengthen its relationship with the United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump. In his remarks at Davos 2025, Kanwar highlighted the steady growth of economic ties between the US and India in the 21st century, but emphasized the necessity for enhanced cooperation in the present circumstances.
"It is very essential as India is shining and is one of the only growing economy with 6-6.5% GDP. On the other hand, US is also going in the right direction. So it is very important for India to have better ties with US. Not only just trade, in the high tech segment, most tech innovations are Indians. We need to see that those jobs are also well secured. So, it is not just trade, even for tech India and US need to work together," Kanwar said.
Talking about commercial vehicle sales in India, Kanwar said: "The first nine months of FY25 were pretty bad. CV sales were down, car sales were down. It is because of the slowdown in the economy. A lot of elections have happened and people were holding back from buying new vehicles. During Diwali this time, we didn't see the kind of traction we see every year. But in the fourth quarter, we are already seeing CV sales going up. I am optimistic for the coming times given that there is stability in the government, in the economy, and the Centre continues with pro-business policies. I feel Fy26 will be a double-digit growth year for CVs and cars," Kanwar added.
According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), India witnessed a 9.1% growth in automobile retail sales in 2024. However, December saw a 12.4% year-on-year decline in sales.
The sales of two-wheelers (2W) increased by 10.7%, three-wheelers (3W) by 10.4%, passenger vehicles (PV) by 5.1%, and tractors by 2.5% during this period. Unfortunately, the commercial vehicle (CV) category continues to struggle to reach its pre-pandemic levels due to election-related uncertainties and reduced infrastructure spending.
During December, there was a 12.4% year-over-year decrease in total retail sales. Two-wheelers experienced a 17.6% decline, while passenger vehicles decreased by 1.9%, three-wheelers by 4.5%, and commercial vehicles by 5.2%. On the other hand, tractors saw a notable growth of 25.7% year-over-year.
Talking about India's growth, Kanwar said India is in a phase of structural slowdown, where the government is bit cautious about spending. "If the government in the Budget comes up with a more aggressive infrastructure and simplifies GST bringing it down from 28% to 18%. These things will boost the economy," he added.