Light commercial vehicle market expanding

The market for light commercial vehicles (LCVs) is growing gradually thanks to the growing number of small and medium enterprises and young entrepreneurs running businesses all over Bangladesh, according to market players.

The LCV market size reached about Tk 1,200 crore in 2021 with annual sales averaging 11,000 units for the past three years.

LCVs control 42 per cent of the commercial vehicle market on average, but in 2021, the segment's market share edged up to 45 per cent on the back of 6 per cent growth in sales, industry analysts said.

"The demand for LCVs is growing as the number of SMEs and online businesses in the country has risen in line with the receding pandemic situation," said Humayun Rashid, executive director of Energypac, the sole local distributor of Chinese automaker JAC Motors.

Besides, a number of expatriates who returned home amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic are purchasing LCVs, such as small covered vans and pickup trucks, to use them for commercial purposes.

"This had led to the increased demand for these vehicles," Rashid added.

Light commercial vehicles are mainly used by businesses to pick up or deliver small consignments but they also double as human haulers.

Rashid went on to say that with the expansion of poultry and agro-based businesses in the northern part of Bangladesh, many entrepreneurs are engaged in either sending their products all over the country or supplying feed and other inputs.

In both cases, the entrepreneurs make use of LCVs to pick up or make deliveries. Energypac's assembly plant cranks out about 1,000 pickup trucks and 1,500 small covered vans per year.