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MOTORINDIA
l
September 2012
less respectively, com-
pared to the previous year.
The company lost 2.4 per
cent market share in the
Indian medium and heavy
CV market during the
year.
Sales of multi-axle ve-
hicles, the largest segment
in trucks, contracted by
13 per cent in southern
India. On the other hand,
the intermediate com-
mercial vehicles (ICV)
goods segment grew na-
tionwide by nearly 21 per
cent and Ashok Leyland
did gain market share in
ICV goods, a fast-growing seg-
ment in which the company has its
nascent presence. To sum up, con-
traction of the company strongholds
and rapid growth of segments where
it has limited presence resulted in
a mixed outcome in the domestic
market. However, it demonstrated
substantial growth in exports, clock-
ing 12,852 vehicles in 2011-12, a
25 per cent growth compared to the
previous year. Besides performance
in the SAARC markets, it benefited
through strategic expansion into
several new geographies. Sales in
the Middle-East grew substantially,
despite the overall uncertainty in the
region, bolstered by the company’s
capability to locally manufacture
buses at Ras-al-Khaimah.
While the Jan Bus is the world’s
first single step, front engine, fully
flat floor bus, the 10x2 will be a pio-
neering product for the Indian CV
industry. The 10x2 MAV represents
a significant product introduction
into the largest truck segment, in-
dicating further movement towards
higher tonnage vehicles.
The launch of Solo is further evi-
dence of the company’s capabil-
ity to bring world-class passenger
transport products to the growing
Indian market. The company’s con-
tinued investments in Research and
Development through 2011-12 will
also result in several launches in
the next fiscal. The New Generation
Cab and the Neptune Engine pro-
grammes will see market introduc-
tions. ICV, the fastest growing seg-
ment in the M&HCV range, will see
the company come up with a brand
new product with inputs from AVIA
Ashok Leyland Motors in the Czech
Republic.
The company has fixed challeng-
ing targets in all focus areas and has
kicked off a host of ambitious ban-
ner projects. In summary, it has pre-
pared well for the challenging eco-
nomic scenario expected in future,
as well as the upcoming competition
in the M&HCV space.
Light commercial vehicles
Taking advantage of the prolifera-
tion of the hub-and spoke model and
the strong demand originating from
the rural segment, Ashok Leyland
entered the LCV segment with the
launch of DOST last year. The prod-
uct has been well accepted by cus-
tomers, with 7,593 vehicles having
been sold in the last fiscal and a total
of 14,841 vehicles sold from launch
till June 2012.
Within six months of launch,
DOST is already the second highest
selling model in the 2-3.5T GVW
segment and has achieved a pan-
India market share of 16.6 per cent.
vehicle zone (cover story)
Ashok Leyland has lined up several ground-breaking products for core
segments in the upcoming fiscal. Three such new products – the Jan Bus,
10x4 multi-axle truck and the 8m ICV bus named ‘Solo’ – will be launched
shortly.