CHENNAI: Ashok Leyland aims to strengthen its position in the overseas market with plans to leverage its range of new range of left-hand and right-hand drive vehicles to boost export numbers, the commercial vehicle major’s top management said on Friday.
Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO said the company wants to be among the top ten commercial vehicle players globally. And to fulfill this vision, the company will be expanding its business geographically and launching a wide range of products suiting the demand of overseas markets. He said that modular truck platform Avtr has already been launched recently and another new product Phoenix, which also has a left hand drive option, will be launched in the market soon.
These will help the company enhance its international footprint. “Availability of both left- and right-hand drive vehicles in the company’s portfolio will be a major enabler for increasing the exports,” said Sondhi.
Top officials are also hopeful that by demand of commercial vehicles will pick up in the domestic market as well going forward. “A lot depends on when the covid lockdown is lifted. Once the lockdown is lifted, we will witness demand for vehicles as the transportation sector will grow,” added Sondhi.
To meet the demand, the company will be launching a new range of buses and will also be expanding its LCV and electric buses portfolio. He further added that opening up of the economy is the biggest stimulus for the industry and the state and Central governments must keep their focus on Covid-19 containment to
prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Sondhi also clarified that Ashok Leyland will not be affected any way due to the ongoing family feud of promoter family: the Hindujas. “Ashok Leyland is managed independently by professionals. It (dispute) is a family matter and it will be addressed by family”,. Ashok Leyland is a flagship of the Hinduja group. He also denied the reports of massive layoffs at its factories. The company has managed to save around `520 crore during 2019-2020 by implementing a cost cutting programme.
Cost cutting
Encouraged by the results of last year’s cost-cutting programme, the company has now started a new initiative called Project Reset focusing on improving cost optimisation and the company’s productivity