Luxury buses buck trend

At a time when the auto sector is witnessing a slowdown, the heavy and luxury bus segment has registered a growth of 60 per cent in the first two months of the current financial year.

The segment's cumulative domestic sales in April-May crossed 5,000 units, up from a mere 3,136 units in the corresponding period last year.

This performance comes at a time when the sales of goods-carrying commercial vehicles plummeted 12 per cent in the last two months compared with the same period last year, due to high interest costs.

The competition from railways did not affect the luxury buses segment as private tour operators and state transport undertakings helped in driving up the sales during the holiday months.

The boom has been led by Chennai-based Ashok Leyland, which saw sales increasing by a whopping 171 per cent to 2,577 units in May, from a mere 948 units during the same period last year.