After the COVID-19 lockdown, the economy is picking up and recovering slowly but steadily. The sales of vehicles that hit bottom during the lockdowns have now started to move upwards, creating more and more employment opportunities in the economy.
With the lockdown lifted, people are buying more vehicles, which has become a key factor in lifting the country’s automobile sector.
In addition, the demand for trucks and other pickups has increased since the industries and manufacturers have resumed their business operations, thus increasing the demand for cargo trucks, pickup trucks, and other vehicles.
Amid this increase in truck sales, buses and other three-wheelers have considerably dropped in the first and second quarter of the year, according to the data from Bangladesh Road Transportation Authority (BRTS).
This indicates less demand for public transportation from consumers. In contrast, the sales of private vehicles or personal cars have been steadily increasing, indicating consumers’ shift from public transportation to owning their own rides.
During the pandemic and lockdown period, truck owners were hit the hardest out of all the vehicle owners. But that did not last long, and soon when the lockdown disappeared, the truck owners had their jobs back, and due to this, the sector experienced a massive increase in sales.
On the contrary, however, the sales of buses reached seven hit record low this year, indicating the shift of customers from public transportation to private rides. This is great news for the automobile sector, and because of this shift, the automobile sector is having a boom after the long recession during the pandemic.
With the complete construction of the Padma Bridge, more and more sales are expected in the automobile sector since the construction of the Padma Bridge, and the highways have catered to most rod problems of the country.
In addition, this bridge has connected Dhaka and the western part of the country, reducing the great distance between the territories.
Now, people are buying more vehicles, especially cars of both local and foreign brands. With the increase in the sales of cars, public transport is suffering a great deal. The worst hit is the bus owners, and the sales of buses have hit a seven-year record low during the second and third quarters.
This issue seems to be resolved in the long run; however, most experts argue that private transport will soon overrun the public transport system. With a market like this and the negative expert opinions, the three-wheelers and the bus owners are struggling to remain in this industry.
However, according to Bangladesh Road Transportation Authority (BRTA), this dynamic will only last for a while, and the sector will start to pick up the pace again sometime during next year.
This would enlighten some hope in the declining market of buses and three-wheelers and settle the ongoing uncertain market conditions. Nevertheless, that would only be possible if the government took adequate measures.
