Ashok Leyland to Invest INR 400 Crore for Launching 8-10 LCVs
Published On Oct 04, 2016
After the end of an eight-year-long collaboration with Nissan recently, Ashok Leyland is now planning for its solo foray in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment. With a mega investment of INR 400 crore, the Hinduja Group commercial vehicle maker is looking forward to launching 8 to 10 vehicles within the next two to three years.
Ashok Leyland, one of the leading manufacturers of commercial vehicles in India is planning to strengthen its ground in the commercial vehicle industry. The new launches will comprise of updated versions of its existing vehicles plus new models in the segment.
Ashok Leyland Managing Director Vinod Dasari told, "We will add a lot more models. We are planning on our own and we will have a bunch of new models coming in. We will have a full range of LCVs over the next 2-3 years.” He also said that the company will be launching new variants, new models and new platforms, investing a total of INR 400 crores for these 8 to 10 different models. Mr. Dasari also added that the first of these vehicles are supposed to be rolled out for the market within the next six months.
The new products and the technology involving them will be developed in-house by Ashok Leyland. The company currently sells Dost and Partner vehicles in the LCV segment. These two vehicles are based on Nissan’s design, engineering and technology.
Dasari reflected that the company wishes to offer full range of vehicles in the LCV segment. “Many of our customers, who own larger vehicles also want small vehicles, so we believe in this business and we will continue to invest in this business and grow it,” he added.
The CV maker currently has no plans of expanding its production capacity and will be using its existing under utilized facilities to manufacture the new vehicles.
Just last month, Japanese automaker Nissan had sold its stake in three joint ventures to its partner Ashok Leyland. This marked an end to the eight-year-long rocky collaboration between the two companies. The companies had invested INR 1,000 crore as equity and the JVs included Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles (for vehicle manufacturing), Nissan Ashok Leyland Power Train (for making power trains) and Nissan Ashok Leyland Technologies (a technology JV).
