Ashok Leyland to expand network to North-East

Chennai: Asho Heavy commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland has drawn up network expansion plans in the North and Eastern parts of the country, a top company official has said.

The Hinduja Group flagship company was also gearing up to launch its electric light commercial vehicles (LCVs) within the next few months.

Ashok Leyland in the first nine months of the financial year ending December 31, 2023 reported its highest turnover of Rs 27,100 crore, highest sales volume at 1,38,416 units, EBITDA of Rs 3,014 crore and Profit After Tax of Rs 1,718 crore.

"While we have started doing very well now in the North and East zones which have been traditionally our weaker markets, there is certainly ample headroom to grow further. We are progressing well on our network expansion plans, especially in the North and East zones" company Managing Director Shenu Agarwal said.

Ashok Leyland to fuel its network expansion plans, has tied up with the diversified conglomerate TVS Group.

"We have tied up with the TVS Group with whom we enjoy a long-standing partnership in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, to represent us in the National Capital Region. We hope to start launching several new outlets in this region within the next few months," he said at the recent call with analysts.

Elaborating, he said the company has added 37 authorised service centres and 44 dealers for the medium, heavy commercial vehicle business in the first three quarters of the year.

"Now, we are at a total of 399 authorised service centres and 491 dealers throughout the country. We wish to take this number to 1,000 in times to come." he said.

Noting that the company's electric vehicle arm Switch Mobility has been crucial for future proofing Ashok Leyland, he said, in the October-December 2023, Ashok Leyland invested Rs 662 crore of the total equity investment of Rs 1,200 crore approved by the Board in Optare PLC, the United Kingdom.

"AL (Ashok Leyland) shall be inducting the balance equity in more than one tranche over the next few months." he said.

The balance sheet of Ashok Leyland is strong enough to support the vision on electrification of buses and light commercial vehicles under the Switch brand.

"I am happy to share that Switch products are performing extremely well in the market. We are very excited about starting to deliver our first batch of electric LCVs within the next few months," he added.