Apr’17: Ashok Leyland sales plunge by 30%
Published On May 03, 2017
The second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India Ashok Leyland saw a steep decline in its April sales volume. The company in BSE filing reported 30 percent of sales drop registering only 7,083 units in the month. This is huge blow when compared to the last year April sales where company recorded 10,182 units.
In medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment, the firm registered 4,525 units in April 2017 as against 7,873 units in the corresponding month last year, witnessing a fall of 43 percent. However, in the light commercial vehicle segment, sales grew by 11 percent as company sold 2,558 units last month as compared to 2,309 units in April 2016.
The reason could be the recent verdict from Supreme Court that banned sale and registration of BS-III vehicles starting from April 1st 2017. Like other manufacturers, Ashok Leyland is also bearing the brunt of the leftover inventory. The company reportedly had about 10,000 units of BS-III vehicles at the time when Supreme Court order came into effect. Out of this huge stockpile, a large portion still needs to be dispersed either by exporting them or by dismantling the products for other usage.
On the contrary, company winded by FY'17 on a positive note by grabbing 37.44 percent of market share in the M&HCV category, the highest since 2001. Company has also shown immense growth in the bus segment and plans to increase its investment in developing new products. Ashok Leyland is also planning to go offensive in the next 2-3 years in a bid to enter the top 10 M&HCV global players by exploring new markets and adding new range of products in future.
