CHENNAI: The Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland and Nissan Motor Company on Tuesday unveiled their first Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) – the Ashok Leyland Dost. The product will be launched to the market in the second quarter of FY 2011-12. Ashok Leyland Dost will be produced at the company’s Hosur manufacturing plant.
Powered by a specially-developed 55 hp high-torque, 3-cylinder, turbo-charged Common Rail Diesel engine, the vehicle has a payload capacity of 1.25 tonnes. Reflecting the growing expectations of the Indian LCV customer, Ashok Leyland Dost will be available in 3 versions — a base version with manual steering, a mid version with power steering and interiors, power steering and AC. The vehicle will be available in both BSIII and BSIV versions.
“The Indian market is rapidly evolving and customer expectations are growing. We believe that the LCV segment is ready for a substantial upgradation of products that yet offer low cost of ownership. The Ashok Leyland Dost with its carefully calibrated design and features attempts to offer a new level of experience to the Indian customer,’’ said V Sumantran, Executive Vice Chairman, Hinduja Automotive Ltd and Chairman, Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain Ltd.
Andy Palmer, Senior Vice-President, Nissan Motor Company and Chairman, Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles Ltd, said, “The product blends the best in terms of Japanese engineering from Nissan, with local relevance that Ashok Leyland brings to the table. It represents a very attractive value proposition to the small and medium businesses that it is targeted at and we are confident that it will find wide acceptance.’’