Ashok Leyland has significantly expanded its operations in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh with the inauguration of four dealership outlets – CM Automobiles (Mohali), TR Enterprises (Hoshiarpur), Grover Motors (Moga) and CM Associates (Kangra, Himachal Pradesh). With this, the company now has eight dealership outlets in Punjab along with 126 service bays and six dealership outlets in HP. The Mohali dealership outlet also marks the company’s 350th customer touch point across the country.Speaking at the inauguration of the Mohali dealership outlet, Mr. R.N. Rao, Special Director – Sales & Marketing, Ashok Leyland, observed: “Punjab and HP have been focus markets for us which must be evident in this marked expansion of our network in these markets. Over the years, we have striven to understand the specific requirements of customers in this region and provide vehicles that are best suited for them. This is reflected in the 5.5 per cent growth in our volumes in Punjab particularly. With these initiatives, we hope to substantially enhance our service levels.”
Another measure of the company service levels is the TatkaAL promise of reaching a customer within four hours anywhere on the Golden Quadrilateral or on the North-South, East-West corridors with restoration in 48 hours, and in case of any delay, the company is ready to pay a penalty of Rs. 1,000 per day. The company has trained and developed over 16,000 mechanics and nearly 5,400 retailers across the country.
Referring to the Punjab market with its large agrarian base, Mr. Rao explained that it is essentially a haulage market for which Ashok Leyland had winner products in the 4×2 and 6×2 segments fitted with the fuel efficient ‘H’ series engines that were BSIII compliant. These models are also offered with inline fuel injection pumps (FIPs) that have inherent mechanic-friendly features resulting in low operating costs.
The company displayed its new product range, and Mr. Rao handed over keys to customers at the function to inaugurate the new dealership outlets.
With the ramping up of the world-class manufacturing facility at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, Ashok Leyland is better placed to promptly and adequately meet the demands from these markets.
Apart from the TatkaAL promise, the company’s comprehensive driver care programme is going a long way in improving the lot of commercial vehicle drivers in the country and thereby addressing the growing industry concern over the dearth of good, trained drivers.
Ashok Leyland is the first auto major to have two driver training institutes, one at Namakkal in Tamil Nadu and the other at Burari near Delhi, with three more on the anvil at Khaital (Haryana), Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh) and Jaipur (Rajasthan).
