The Hindu : Business : ALL lines up slew of products

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Saturday, Jan 05, 2008
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Business

ALL lines up slew of products

Special Correspondent

To showcase two vehicles at the expo

To focus on fully-built solutions
Test-markets
multi-axle vehicle

CHENNAI: Ashok Leyland Ltd. (ALL), the flagship company of the Hindujas, has lined up a slew of products for national launch over the next few months. All these will be in the higher tonnage category in the multi-axle segment, which has emerged as the growth driver for the commercial vehicle industry.

The company is planning to showcase at the forthcoming auto show in New Delhi at least two products, which are slated for commercial launch next financial year. The two are: 4935, a tractor trailer with 250 hp engine; and 3135, a tipper.

ALL has just begun test-marketing 3121, a multi-axle fully-built vehicle. Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Rajive Saharia, Executive Director (Marketing), said, “We have just started releasing 3121 H in the market.” He said ALL was hoping to sell 1,000 units of 3121 H vehicle in a quarter. The national launch of this vehicle would happen soon, he added.

The company, it may be recalled, signalled its foray into the highest weight class of commercial vehicles permitted under the Motor Vehicles Act by launching 4921, a tractor trailer, in mid-November. Thus far, ALL had sold in excess of six hundred units of 4921, Mr. Saharia said. This vehicle featured 210 hp indigenously developed six cylinder H series engine, he said. The 4921 tractor trailer was offered with a factory-built, twin-sleeper Newgen cab, he added.

The Executive Director said the commercial vehicle pie had been witnessing a change off late, with the multi-axle vehicle segment garnering increasingly higher share. From 34 per cent in 2005-06, the multi-axle vehicle segment share in the commercial vehicle space had gone up to 43 per cent in 2006-07, he said. Tractor trailers were also growing with a share of 10 per cent in 2006-07, he pointed out.

In tractors, higher tonnage vehicles were leading the growth, he added. Ashok Leyland’s answer to the emerging change in the profile of the commercial vehicle market would come by way of launch of these new products, Mr. Saharia said.

Going forward, he said, Ashok Leyland would look for wider product portfolio, even while laying much store by specifically-tailored products to suit customer requirements. To a question, he said the company would focus on providing fully-built solutions. He asserted that the company’s R&D (research and development) was fully geared to meet the challenges posed by the metamorphosis in the commercial vehicle industry.

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