Trucks are the lifeline of the Indian economy, and transporters and drivers are its backbone. But behind the market-size numbers and technology headlines is a business of daily struggle, freight rates, risk, hard work, and hard-earned loyalty.

To understand it, we surveyed 5,000+ truck owners across every region of India — from single-truck driver-owners to large fleets — as well as drivers, transporters, and other stakeholders. The survey covers diesel, CNG, LNG, and electric trucks, and maps purchase behavior, income, expenses, duty cycles, EMIs, and profitability by truck type and application.

Here are five findings from the full report.

The application of the truck is key for OEMs, Fleet Owners, Logistics companies, and other stakeholders in the Truck Industry. This has once again been reflected in our survey.

The Indian Truck Industry is characterized by multiple market dynamics. The Indian Truck Industry Ecosystem is complex and interconnected, with each component’s performance affecting the others.  We conducted a primary survey of Indian truck owners, providing insights into opportunities and challenges for Diesel, CNG, LNG, and Electric Trucks, as well as ways to improve overall product performance.

Short version of the Full Report:

Brand loyalty is strong, but resets at segment transitions

Truck owners rarely switch brands without a reason. However, when they move into a new truck segment, brand preference often resets, creating a key window for OEMs to win customers.

• Moving from small trucks to LDT/MDT: Owners tend to choose Eicher due to higher mileage and lower toll costs.
• Moving from LDT/MDT to HDT: Owners often prefer Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland for reliability and traction.
• Within HDT, switching is mainly driven by rival performance trials, price differences, and higher payload requirements.

Strategic takeaway: Eicher and Tata Motors command the highest loyalty in MDT and HDT respectively. For other OEMs, the biggest opportunity lies at the segment-transition point, when customers are most open to switching.

Want the complete brand-switching matrix — who loses customers to whom, and why? [Request the report sample →]

The perception gap: strong products, weaker brand pull

The survey highlights a gap between product quality and buyer perception for some OEMs. Even when products meet operating needs, many customers continue to favor incumbent brands because of loyalty, familiarity, or past experience.

Brand perception challenges:

• BharatBenz (DICV): Fits Indian operating requirements well, but many buyers remain loyal to incumbent brands.
• Mahindra Furio: Receives excellent market feedback and gives Mahindra real potential in HDT, but the brand must reshape the perception of trucks as successfully as it did with SUVs.

Each brand owns a distinct value proposition in owners’ minds

• BharatBenz and Mahindra: Cabin space and driver comfort
• Tata: Tough-terrain performance, service network, and resale value
• Eicher: Mileage and low driver fatigue
• Propel electric tippers: Battery performance and after-sales support

This survey fulfills the purpose for the Electric and ICE truck segments.

We have interacted with 5000 Truck owners covering every corner of India to understand the geography’s impact on truck type suitability, including

• Single Driver owners
• Small Truck Owners
• Medium Truck owners, and
• Large truck owners

Purchase behavior, income, expenses, Duty cycle, EMI, Revenue, profit, and other factors depend on the type of Truck and its applications.

Truck Payload Utilization Pattern Analysis:

Over time, truck fleet owners have changed their mindset from profit-only overload to profit+ Truck life with rated or under-load in the Rigid Haulage and Tractor Trailer segments. The Tipper practice differs with application and locations. Owners now see measurable benefits — better mileage, longer tyre life, and no RTO penalties. (Tipper practice still varies by application and location.)

The Electric Truck application suits this scenario, but it applies only to a specific payload category.

Indian Truck Replacement Cycle:

There are many factors that impact the Truck demand analytics. If the truck utilization is low and demand is high, there are fewer chances to increase truck sales.

Many truck owners decide to sell their trucks after 5 years of repaying the truck loan to avoid the high maintenance cost and buy a new truck at a good price.

The biggest untapped profit lever isn’t the truck — it’s the load:

Most owners still rely on transporters and agents for freight, paying 5–7% commission per load. This is the most common practice in the road transport business. Successful digital freight platforms could raise fleet owner revenue by 30–40% through:

• Higher vehicle utilization
• Shorter waiting periods
• Better freight rates

For OEMs, financiers, and logistics-tech players, this is the largest value pool identified in the survey.

If the Digital platform works successfully, the Fleet owners’ revenue is expected to increase by 30 to 40% because truck utilization, reduced waiting period,  and freight rates could also increase.

Sales Enquiry Response:

Faster response from the Eicher Team significantly influences the lead conversion rate. It also indicates how important customers are to the company.

MRF, Apollo, and JK Tyre are the preferred tyre brands among fleet owners due to their value propositions across various applications. However, Truck owners are open to considering other tire brands also under specific circumstances.

Contact us to get the full report.