CHENNAI: Chennai-based commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland on Friday stated that 10,664 units of its commercial vehicle models were affected by the Supreme Court’s ban on BS-III vehicles. However, Vinod Dasari, managing director of the company, said that the financial impact of the judgment will be minimal since the affected vehicles are already being upgraded for the market.
Dasari added that the company will be investing around Rs 600 crore in capital investment every year to launch new products, open two new assembly plants in Africa and venture into new global markets and aggressively bid for defence contracts in financial year 2017-18.
Speaking to the reporters during the company’s global conference, Dasari pointed out, “Out of a total of 10,664 units of BS-III vehicles, 95 per cent were with us, not with dealers. So we will be upgrading the engines of those vehicles using our indigenously developed iEGR” — its new intelligent exhaust gas re-circulation (iEGR) technology. Re-fitting the new vehicles will add around Rs 20,000 in costs per engine and these Re-fitting engines will be sold on the aftermarket at a premium. According to Dasari, BS-IV compliant engines with iEGR have 10 per cent higher fuel economy.
Meanwhile, on the investment plans, Dasari said that Rs 600 crore will be used for “capacity building, developing new platform for building modular vehicles, technology development and BS-VI testing among other things... Besides, it will be used for setting up new units in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Ivory Coast and Kenya. The Ras Al Khaimah, Dubai plant capacity will be doubled.”