Ashok Leyland Showcases New Range Of Buses, Trucks At Global Conference 2018

The Hinduja Group-owned commercial vehicle maker showcased its entire range of innovative products, services and dealer initiatives at its annual Global Conference 2018 held in Chennai.

Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja Group flagship, had its Global Conference 2018 on 18 April 2018 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, where it displayed its wide spectrum of vehicles and a variety of innovative products and industry-leading solutions for the commercial market. The company, which has transitioned smoothly in the last few years from being a mere maker of commercial vehicles to a mobility solutions provider for the international automotive market, also revealed its plans for the coming year at the three-day event.

Of the wide array of trucks, LCVs, school buses, and tippers on display, the most significant ones include the Russia-spec Euro 5 Boss 1223 (LHD), the 10T Guru with 17 feet HSD, and the 41T fully-built load body unitized bearing. Ashok Leyland’s passenger-carrying buses included its Alpha, Pearl, Oyster and Falcon models. For the armed forces, the vehicle maker had theLSV, MBVP, Simulator and the rugged Guru 715 on display.

Noteworthy among the indigenous innovations that Ashok Leyland has found success with are the Intelligent Exhaust Gas Recirculation (iEGR) for BS-IV engines and the Digital Market Place (DMP).

“Last year has been a good year for us. What differentiates us is that we did it on the back of our innovations like the iEGR technology. It has proved its mettle across the markets and the customers have placed their trust in us. Another innovation - the Digital Market Place - since its launch in August 2017, has become extremely popular with our fleet owners with more and more users getting on to the platform, deriving benefits of our digital technology,” said Vinod K Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland at the event.

After a fairly satisfactory year where it had to fend off various challenges in the market, Ashok Leyland is bullish about its growth prospects for the coming financial year and beyond. Last year, the ban on sale of BS III vehicles at the beginning of the year, the introduction of GST (goods and services tax) and ‘acerbic competition’ through ‘irrational discounting’ had all combined to make it a challenging year for the company, Dasari added.

Talking about the company's plans, Dasari mentioned that the company has earmarked a Rs 1000 crore plan for 2018-19. This includes the setting up of a factory in Andhra Pradesh, which would cost roughly Rs 200 crore. It will be able to manufacture not just buses but trucks and even electric vehicles too. The company is also poised to launch vehicles equipped with left-hand-drive capability to serve newer markets.