Mumbai, Feb 05: India’s mobility sector entered 2026 on a stable footing. January data indicates that truck rentals remained largely flat without much changes month-on-month across key trunk routes, while recording healthy year-on-year growth of 5%–12%. The onset of the Rabi harvest in January, with increased movement of agricultural produce across regions kept trucking activity busy. On a year-on-year basis, the Delhi–Mumbai–Delhi route recorded the highest growth at 12%, while the Delhi–Kolkata–Delhi, Mumbai–Chennai–Mumbai, Bengaluru–Mumbai–Bengaluru and Kolkata–Guwahati–Kolkata routes each posted growth of around 10%.
Electric vehicle adoption continued to be a key growth driver, with electric two-wheeler demand remaining resilient due to steady urban commuting needs and improving product reliability, while electric car sales benefited from wider model availability and rising consumer comfort with EV ownership. On a month-on-month basis, electric two-wheeler sales increased by 26% and electric motor car sales grew by 29%, underscoring sustained momentum across EV segments.
Robust demand for SUVs, supported by resilient consumer confidence, underpinned strong sales across passenger vehicles (PV) in January. At the same time, sustained requirements for last-mile delivery and utility transport continued to support healthy retail sales in the light commercial vehicle segment. In contrast, bus retail volumes moderated during January 2026 as slower fleet replacement cycles weighed on fresh purchases, resulting in a decline in sales.
Motor car sales recorded a sharp 37% MoM increase, reflecting improved consumer sentiment and higher showroom conversions. At the same time, Goods Carriers and Three-wheeler Goods Vehicles sales grew by 37% and 33% respectively, underscoring sustained momentum in freight and last-mile logistics, highlighting a broad-based recovery across both personal mobility and commercial transport segments.
MoM Commercial construction equipment sales rose by 22%, while Earth-moving Equipment sales surged by 44%, driven by ongoing investments in highways, urban infrastructure, logistics parks and industrial corridors.
“Truck rentals were flat in January following a strong pickup in the previous quarter. Following the announcement of the Indo US trade pact, we expect vehicular movement to pick up across key export hubs and ports. Rising temperatures should also restore normal logistics activities in the Himalayan region. However, transport operators note that geopolitical tensions along the Indo Bangla border continue to disrupt goods movement. As we enter the peak quarter, we expect overall normalcy to return to the transport sector.” said Sudarshan Holla, Joint Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer, Commercial Vehicles, Shriram Finance.