By K. Gopalakrishnan
At 60, Ashok Leyland is getting younger and a lot more aggressive. Winds of change are sweeping across the company, and this is quite clear to one who visits the Tech Centre built on the outskirts of Chennai. A team of 600 young engineers are working on the next generation of products which Ashok Leyland plans to launch not just for the Indian market but for the developing and even developed global markets. Christened Unitruck, the all-new full range truck platform will be progressively introduced from 2010.
Mr. R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, said: “The Unitruck range reflects our global ambitions. With higher power-to-weight ratio, superior cab ergonomics and trim, the trucks will conform to European standards, and will spearhead our entry into developed markets, with competitive advantages in costs. It will also answer evolving needs of the domestic market as they gallop towards international benchmarks, thanks to the rapid infrastructural development”.
As part of the Unitruck program, Ashok Leyland is developing a completely new range of trucks, engines and cabins. The name Unitruck indicates that it will have universality of applications, addressing diverse market and customer groups. The completely new vehicle platform is capable of being built in a modular fashion. The new truck range will cover vehicles from 16 to 49 tonne GCW.
Mr. Seshasayee observes: “For the first time, I would like to say that our horizons are widened, and we believe therefore that with the new range of trucks we will be able to address much larger developing and developed markets. The new range of on and off-highway platform can create variants to meet different geographies, road / load conditions, different applications and legislative requirements”. 
The new range of trucks will start rolling out from 2010 in a progressive fashion, initially addressing the requirements of major customer and application groups within India and second hemisphere markets and will eventually be sold even in developed markets. The drive train will feature a range of gear boxes, with cost-effective automatic / automated manual transmission as options on some models. Coupled with rear axles of different ratios, vehicle performance and fuel efficiency can be enhanced to suit different duty cycles.
Ashok Leyland has also developed a new series of engines called the Neptune Series, which will succeed the successful H Series. The new family of 6-cylinder inline engines is code-named Neptune of modular capacity from 4.7 litre to 8 litre – BS3 and BS4 / Euro IV compliant and protected for Euro-V, with cooled EGR and SCR options.
Cab programme
The third important AL initiative is its cab programme. “The cabs in India are vastly different from what are you see in western markets. The company recognises the fact that the Indian market is graduating itself to the next level, and it won’t be long before we get international standards of cabin features coming into India”, says Mr. Seshasayee.
The company is currently offering the Newgen cabs on its tippers and tractor trailers. The Unitruck range will feature the Newgen cabs initially but will be replaced by the Nextgen range of modular cabs. These new cabs will come in multiple options of widths, heights, lengths and feature levels.
The weight-optimised frame assemblies are entirely modular and can cater to all model variants, offering extreme flexibility to accommodate aggregate options. The Unitruck will form the base for offering fully-built, ready-to-use trucks. A high level of electronics will manage the vital aggregates, for easy diagnostics, improved operating efficiency and fleet management.
The Managing Director further says: “We are looking well into the future with the new range of trucks to be powered by the new range of engines. We also want to ensure that these vehicles and engines will have define a new superior performance point. The new platform of vehicles and engines will help us in launching our vehicles in market in which we are not present at this point. These trucks will be comparable to the best in class vehicle available in those markets and at a price point which is significantly lower”.
Apart from broadening and widening of its products, the company is also looking at its international operations far more energetically than in the past. The company is expanding its footprint outside India with acquisition of Czech truck manufacturer Avia and setting up of a new bus plant at Ras Al Khaimah. The company plans to broaden its presence in the second hemisphere markets by introduction of new trucks and buses.
In the domestic market, Ashok Leyland plans to expand its product range to include the light commercial vehicles as well. For this the company has signed a JV with Nissan for manufacturing LCVs. With the addition of products from the Nissan JV, the company will have a complete range of products to offer from 1 tonne plus payload right upto the 49 tonne GCW vehicle. The Nissan JV will also include small buses which will add to the medium and heavy duty buses in which Ashok Leyland enjoys market leadership.
Albonair
Recently Ashok Leyland floated a new company in Germany called Albonair. The objective is to develop at new price performance point in the after-treatment product specifically on SCR technology which is required for Euro 4 and Euro 5 engines. Albonair will develop products and solutions not just for Ashok Leyland alone but it will develop products for other OEMs worldwide and will eventually also look at development of new products across the globe for emission treatment.
“In the coming years this project will offer the group the expertise to develop cutting edge technology particularly focussed on emission reduction and safety enhancement as well as electronic system integration capabilities”, says Mr. Seshasayee.
Albonair will play a very important part in the development of SCR technology for the new Neptune range of engines.
Ashok Leyland is also working quite seriously on the construction equipment business. The company will announce its plans for this segment in the next couple of months.
“This is the 60th year of Ashok Leyland, and we are committing ourselves to build our global presence through competitiveness and by building technology through our own competence”, adds Mr. Seshasayee.
