Commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland Ltd. (ALL) showcased its range of BS-VI trucks and buses built on modular platform.
ALL is the first original equipment manufacturer to meet the BS VI emission norms across the full range of heavy duty trucks, said Anuj Kathuria, COO, ALL.
The firm had started seeding the market and the vehicles would be rolled out from January 1, 2020. It was too early to talk about the production numbers or the pricing details, he said.
Stating that a slowdown was the time to incur capital expenditure, ALL chairman Dheeraj G. Hinduja said during the last slowdown in 2013, the firm had invested ₹1,500- ₹2,000 crore.
“This financial year, our capex will be close to ₹2,000 crore but predominantly in core business, BS VI and the modular platform. Going forward, it will come down to ₹500-₹600 crore per year, which is the the normal investment,” he said.
Drawing a parallel to the 2013 slowdown, he said the firm had gained market share in the bus and medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment. ALL’s share now stands at 31%.
Mr. Hinduja said the firm would enter new markets such as Russia, Indonesia and Malaysia as large distributors had evinced interest.
Currently, it was exporting products to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, West Asia, Bhutan, the east and west African markets. In the new markets, the company plans to have a tie-up with a local partner to avail tax concessions.
“We will be entering Russia in the next 12 months and have identified a local assembler to take our franchiseThey will promote our product,” he said.
Mr. Hinduja said the firm’s vision was to be ranked among the top 10 global firms from the present 24th position. It calls for producing about four lakh vehicles a year. Last year, ALL sold two lakh units.
Asked whether it would require fresh investment, he said that it could be done at the existing facility and the numbers could be achieved by debottlenecking.
N. Saravanan, chief technology officer, said that BS VI vehicles offered both challenges and opportunities.
