Ashok Leyland eyes exports & non-truck business for growth

Induja Flagship Ashok Leyland is focusing on non-truck business and exports. Addressing the media after the company's Annual General Meeting, Vinod K Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland said, “We want the exports and non-truck business to grow very fast. That will sustain the business and on top of it, we have done enough to reduce our cost, reduce our break-even so that even if our truck business does not come back very quickly, we should not be in trouble.”

The commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland is looking non-truck business for growth. Dasari said “The five other businesses - buses, light commercial vehicle, power solutions, spare parts and defence are all growing very fast." The non-truck contributes to 50 percent, he added.

The company claims to be growing outside India too. "Exports to the Middle East and Bangladesh continue to perform very well and Sri Lanka in the first quarter . Last year, it did very badly but now you can see there are very large orders from the Sri Lankan government,” Dasari added.

Ashok Leyland is also gearing up for more launches. The company will launch JANBUS at Kolkata on July 30. Dasari said," JANBUS, the low-floor bus, will be launched by next week. Vehicles, with Neptune engines will be rolled out in the next 3-4 months." The company has already bagged an order of 1600 buses under the JNNURM programme.

At a time when the Heavy Commercial Vehicle segment is recovering, Dasari said, “Compared to the previous year, Heavy Commercial Vehicle has done slightly better, partly because we corrected the inventories in our southern dealers that made an improvement. But if you look at overall inventory on a sequential basis, it is still early signs to say that it is coming back. The decline has slowed down. So I am hoping that it is going to stop and I believe that in next 4-5 months, things should come back.”

Aimed to establish itself in the overseas market, the company is looking beyond being an Indian Company. G Hinduja, Chairman, Ashok Leyalnd said, “Ashok Leyland had established itself in the domestic market, where it faces competition from at least 10 global players, as the second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer It is now looking at new markets and has the product line up to back it. The overseas subsidiaries will help it return to profitability and resume dividend payments. Investments abroad, including in the Optare electric bus and double decker bus, give it new capability.

Source : moneycontrol.com