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.