Description
Ashok Leyland is one of the foremost names in the Indian commercial vehicle industry. Such is the influence Ashok Leyland exerts, that many of the product concepts it has created and technologies that it has pioneered have gone on to become industry norms.
Market
With a 60-year-old pedigree, Ashok Leyland is one of the foremost names in the Indian commercial vehicle industry. Such is the influence Ashok Leyland exerts, that many of the product concepts it has created and technologies that it has pioneered have gone on to become industry norms. After six years of a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 25% (Source: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers – SIAM), the industry in 2007/08 saw a deceleration attributed to hardening interest rates resulting in a systemic deferment of purchase. However, the fundamentals of a strong economy are all there. In the meanwhile, vehicles with improved fuel efficiency, faster turnaround – and thus higher productivity – have been introduced in India, with some of them bearing foreign marquees. Better highways, greater freight movement and the hub-and-spoke model has resulted in higher tonnage, multi-axle trucks and tractor trailers, at one end and LCVs (Light Commercial Vehicles) at the other continuing to grow at the expense of the medium – 8 tonne to 16 tonne – segment. Buoyed by a 50%+ rise in bus sales and an over 20% increase in exports in 2007/08, Ashok Leyland sold over 83,000 vehicles and registered a turnover of over Rs. 8000 crore (US$ 2 billion). In the bus segment, Ashok Leyland maintained its pole position with 45.5% of market share.
people everyday – more than the Indian Railways. The company draws on its inherent R&D capabilities and strong strategic alliances with global technology leaders like Hino of Japan for engines, ZF Friedrichshafen AG for gear boxes, AVL for engine development besides associate companies in allied fields and sectors. As a front-runner in alternate fuels, Ashok Leyland pioneered CNG-powered buses in 1997. In 2002, thanks to an Ashok Leyland initiative, India entered another frontier technology: hybrid electric buses. In 2006, the company developed and launched the country’s first common rail, BS III compliant, 152 kW engine capable of being upgraded to the stricter BS IV. Ashok Leyland has always led with technology. The proof of this is a series of innovations that has changed the face of the industry: full airbrakes, power steering, rear engine buses, multi-axle trucks and tractor-trailers, to name but a few. Ashok Leyland’s panIndia market is fed by six manufacturing facilities that combine specialisation in aggregate manufacture with flexibility in vehicle assembly. In 2002 all its manufacturing units received the coveted ISO 14001 Certification for its
Saran entered automotive manufacture and set up Ashok Motors in Madras in 1948 for the assembly of Austin cars. Later, in 1955, with British Leyland’s equity participation, Ashok Leyland commenced the manufacture of commercial vehicles. In 1987, the principal overseas shareholding of the company was taken over by the transnational, multi-billion dollar conglomerate, the Hinduja Group, which now holds majority stake in the company.
Product
Ashok Leyland aims to offer products in the Indian and overseas markets that best suit customer needs. Using appropriate technology, it provides vehicles with the highest value-tocost equation. Today, the company’s product range spans buses from 18-seaters to 80-seaters and goods vehicles from 7.5-tonne gross vehicle weight to 49-tonne gross trailer weight and from numerous special vehicle applications to diesel engines for industrial, marine and genset uses. Ashok Leyland remains the only Indian source for high-capacity buses, doubledecker and vestibule buses. Ashok Leyland is a pioneer in the design and development of defence vehicles and is the largest supplier of logistics vehicles to the Indian Defence Forces. More than 50,000 Stallions are already in use. These vehicles, which include the Stallion 4x4s, form the backbone of the army’s logistics operations. These are now being assembled within the defence sector through a transfer of technology agreement. Other vehicles include water bowsers, light recovery vehicles (LRVs), crash fire tenders and truck fire fighters (TFFs) as also the recently developed light specialist vehicle currently undergoing trials with the Indian Army. Customer support is offered through 22 sales offices, a 160-strong dealer network and a nationwide chain of franchised service centres. Value-added services include ALWAYS, a 24 hours-a-dayseven-days-aweek, national helpline that promises anytime, anywhere emergency attention. To help customers keep their vehicles in prime condition,
Environmental Management System, a first in the commercial vehicle sector in India and four years later, in yet another first, the TS 16949 Corporate Certification for all its six manufacturing units.
Achievements
Over 600,000 Ashok Leyland vehicles ply on Indian and foreign roads: moving people and goods, performing various critical functions and serving the Indian Armed Forces. An index of how integral Ashok Leyland is to India is in the fact that their buses carry over 60 million
History
The genesis of Ashok Leyland can be traced to a young nation’s quest for self-reliance. On Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s persuasion, Raghunandan
Ashok Leyland’s genuine spare parts, branded Leyparts, are made available through nearly 1000 outlets supported by sixteen warehouses. Project MITR is a nationwide capability enhancement programme for 2400 parts retailers and 8200 mechanics. ALTRUX is a preowned truck scheme, the first to be offered by a commercial vehicle manufacturer, under which used Ashok Leyland vehicles are bought, re-conditioned using an exhaustive 140-point check and re-sold. Transport Exchange is a unique brandneutral freight intermediation service which facilitates truck placement for load providers, arranges load for truck operators and ensures timely settlement. This facility is offered through Ashley Transport Services Limited, in strategic partnership with Shriram Transport Finance Company. Ashok Leyland has trained over 200,000 drivers for life-on-the-road – and off it, too – at India’s most comprehensive Driver Training Centres at Namakkal, in Tamil Nadu and Burari, near New Delhi. A third centre is being set up at Khaital in association with the Government of Haryana.
assembly plant is being set-up in the Middle East, at Ras al Khaimah. It will start rolling out 2000 buses annually from 2008. Ashok Leyland is seeking to broaden the scope of its operations in their traditional domains by increasingly occupying adjacent technologies and sectors. With engineering services
caring relationship with the ‘second person singular’ – meaningful to each stakeholder in a unique way.
Brand Values
The two most visible – and recognised – components of the brand are the dynamic ‘L’ logo and the name Ashok Leyland. The name has historical reasons – and timeless meaning. Ashok, meaning happy, is the name of the company’s founder Raghunandan Saran’s son. The second part of the company’s name has come to cue the international aspect, while the first part, so unmistakably Indian, has underlined the custom-built relevance of the company’s products and operations in the Indian context. Brand Ashok Leyland is essentially an experiential brand, its values felt in day-to-day life – more palpably by its immediate customers and end-users. It has layers of meanings, depending on the intimacy or remoteness of the relationship with it. To the customer, it conjures up images of a strong, sturdy, extremely reliable and caring brand. To the initiated, it is appropriate technology that makes economic sense. To its various stakeholders, it means more than just economic sense – it means a lasting relationship based on trust. The core of the brand has always been innovative, international, speedy, moving with the times – and often – even ahead of it. The innards of Ashok Leyland vehicles have always been contemporary. The core is now being matched by the contours of the new, modern, future-ready range of vehicles.
Recent Developments
Growth at Ashok Leyland has been threedimensional: capacity expansion, globalisation and diversification. Adding to its production capacity of 84,000 vehicles per annum, the company is setting up an integrated, state-of-the-art manufacturing unit with a 50,000-vehicle capacity at a green field site in Uttarakhand, slated to go on stream by the end of 2008. The company owns Prague-based AVIA Ashok Leyland Motors which manufactures and markets the famous D-Line series of trucks in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the UK, Spain and Ireland, where the brand enjoys a 15% market share in the 7.5 – 9 tonne segment. The company’s India-made vehicles are exported to over 20 countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. While the company enjoys leadership in Sri Lanka, it also dominates the standard bus markets of Mauritius and Dubai. To meet the growing demand in the overseas markets, an integrated chassis and bus
poised to grow exponentially, Ashok Leyland acquired Defiance Testing & Engineering, Detroit, a trusted testing partner for the American automotive industry. Together with Ashley Design & Engineering Services (ADES) – a division of Ashok Leyland – the company is now able to meet the needs of the transportation and other select industry verticals with end-toend solutions in the spectrum of design, engineering, prototyping, testing and validation. A very recent significant development has been Ashok Leyland’s entry into the highgrowth Light Commercial Vehicle segment in partnership with Nissan Motor Company. The partnership has formed three separate companies, one each for vehicle manufacture, power-train manufacture and technology development. The first products from this joint venture will hit the road by 2010. Ashok Leyland has entered into a 50:50 joint venture with the Alteams Group, Finland, for the manufacture of High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) extruded aluminium products predominantly for the telecommunication and automotive sectors. Another 50:50 joint venture, forged with Continental AG is for the design, development and adaptation of infotronic products and services for the transportation sector. The first product, a track and trace device called ‘Alert’ is already in the market. Ashok Leyland’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives revolve around the welfare of employees and their families, the driver community and those residing in the vicinity of its manufacturing units. The company’s initiatives for social engineering comprise the manufacture of eco-friendly vehicles, imparting comprehensive training to drivers, addressing their health concerns, pioneering the research and development of alternative fuels, enriching the community and bringing benefit to the company’s stakeholders.
www.ashokleyland.com
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
Ashok Leyland
At 60 million a day, Ashok Leyland buses carry more passengers than the Indian Railways Ashok Leyland is the only manufacturer of double-decker and vestibule models of buses in India With over 50,000 in service, the company is the largest supplier of logistics vehicles to the Indian Army Ashok Leyland marine engines enjoy over 90% market share in India
Promotion
‘Engineering your tomorrows’ has been the Ashok Leyland brand promise. The tagline finds expression at two levels: on the hard-core technology level, it is the sum total of the essential values of vehicle technology – safety, comfort, economy and ecology; on the aspirational level, it denotes a warm and
doc_977161241.pdf
Ashok Leyland is one of the foremost names in the Indian commercial vehicle industry. Such is the influence Ashok Leyland exerts, that many of the product concepts it has created and technologies that it has pioneered have gone on to become industry norms.
Market
With a 60-year-old pedigree, Ashok Leyland is one of the foremost names in the Indian commercial vehicle industry. Such is the influence Ashok Leyland exerts, that many of the product concepts it has created and technologies that it has pioneered have gone on to become industry norms. After six years of a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 25% (Source: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers – SIAM), the industry in 2007/08 saw a deceleration attributed to hardening interest rates resulting in a systemic deferment of purchase. However, the fundamentals of a strong economy are all there. In the meanwhile, vehicles with improved fuel efficiency, faster turnaround – and thus higher productivity – have been introduced in India, with some of them bearing foreign marquees. Better highways, greater freight movement and the hub-and-spoke model has resulted in higher tonnage, multi-axle trucks and tractor trailers, at one end and LCVs (Light Commercial Vehicles) at the other continuing to grow at the expense of the medium – 8 tonne to 16 tonne – segment. Buoyed by a 50%+ rise in bus sales and an over 20% increase in exports in 2007/08, Ashok Leyland sold over 83,000 vehicles and registered a turnover of over Rs. 8000 crore (US$ 2 billion). In the bus segment, Ashok Leyland maintained its pole position with 45.5% of market share.
people everyday – more than the Indian Railways. The company draws on its inherent R&D capabilities and strong strategic alliances with global technology leaders like Hino of Japan for engines, ZF Friedrichshafen AG for gear boxes, AVL for engine development besides associate companies in allied fields and sectors. As a front-runner in alternate fuels, Ashok Leyland pioneered CNG-powered buses in 1997. In 2002, thanks to an Ashok Leyland initiative, India entered another frontier technology: hybrid electric buses. In 2006, the company developed and launched the country’s first common rail, BS III compliant, 152 kW engine capable of being upgraded to the stricter BS IV. Ashok Leyland has always led with technology. The proof of this is a series of innovations that has changed the face of the industry: full airbrakes, power steering, rear engine buses, multi-axle trucks and tractor-trailers, to name but a few. Ashok Leyland’s panIndia market is fed by six manufacturing facilities that combine specialisation in aggregate manufacture with flexibility in vehicle assembly. In 2002 all its manufacturing units received the coveted ISO 14001 Certification for its
Saran entered automotive manufacture and set up Ashok Motors in Madras in 1948 for the assembly of Austin cars. Later, in 1955, with British Leyland’s equity participation, Ashok Leyland commenced the manufacture of commercial vehicles. In 1987, the principal overseas shareholding of the company was taken over by the transnational, multi-billion dollar conglomerate, the Hinduja Group, which now holds majority stake in the company.
Product
Ashok Leyland aims to offer products in the Indian and overseas markets that best suit customer needs. Using appropriate technology, it provides vehicles with the highest value-tocost equation. Today, the company’s product range spans buses from 18-seaters to 80-seaters and goods vehicles from 7.5-tonne gross vehicle weight to 49-tonne gross trailer weight and from numerous special vehicle applications to diesel engines for industrial, marine and genset uses. Ashok Leyland remains the only Indian source for high-capacity buses, doubledecker and vestibule buses. Ashok Leyland is a pioneer in the design and development of defence vehicles and is the largest supplier of logistics vehicles to the Indian Defence Forces. More than 50,000 Stallions are already in use. These vehicles, which include the Stallion 4x4s, form the backbone of the army’s logistics operations. These are now being assembled within the defence sector through a transfer of technology agreement. Other vehicles include water bowsers, light recovery vehicles (LRVs), crash fire tenders and truck fire fighters (TFFs) as also the recently developed light specialist vehicle currently undergoing trials with the Indian Army. Customer support is offered through 22 sales offices, a 160-strong dealer network and a nationwide chain of franchised service centres. Value-added services include ALWAYS, a 24 hours-a-dayseven-days-aweek, national helpline that promises anytime, anywhere emergency attention. To help customers keep their vehicles in prime condition,
Environmental Management System, a first in the commercial vehicle sector in India and four years later, in yet another first, the TS 16949 Corporate Certification for all its six manufacturing units.
Achievements
Over 600,000 Ashok Leyland vehicles ply on Indian and foreign roads: moving people and goods, performing various critical functions and serving the Indian Armed Forces. An index of how integral Ashok Leyland is to India is in the fact that their buses carry over 60 million
History
The genesis of Ashok Leyland can be traced to a young nation’s quest for self-reliance. On Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s persuasion, Raghunandan
Ashok Leyland’s genuine spare parts, branded Leyparts, are made available through nearly 1000 outlets supported by sixteen warehouses. Project MITR is a nationwide capability enhancement programme for 2400 parts retailers and 8200 mechanics. ALTRUX is a preowned truck scheme, the first to be offered by a commercial vehicle manufacturer, under which used Ashok Leyland vehicles are bought, re-conditioned using an exhaustive 140-point check and re-sold. Transport Exchange is a unique brandneutral freight intermediation service which facilitates truck placement for load providers, arranges load for truck operators and ensures timely settlement. This facility is offered through Ashley Transport Services Limited, in strategic partnership with Shriram Transport Finance Company. Ashok Leyland has trained over 200,000 drivers for life-on-the-road – and off it, too – at India’s most comprehensive Driver Training Centres at Namakkal, in Tamil Nadu and Burari, near New Delhi. A third centre is being set up at Khaital in association with the Government of Haryana.
assembly plant is being set-up in the Middle East, at Ras al Khaimah. It will start rolling out 2000 buses annually from 2008. Ashok Leyland is seeking to broaden the scope of its operations in their traditional domains by increasingly occupying adjacent technologies and sectors. With engineering services
caring relationship with the ‘second person singular’ – meaningful to each stakeholder in a unique way.
Brand Values
The two most visible – and recognised – components of the brand are the dynamic ‘L’ logo and the name Ashok Leyland. The name has historical reasons – and timeless meaning. Ashok, meaning happy, is the name of the company’s founder Raghunandan Saran’s son. The second part of the company’s name has come to cue the international aspect, while the first part, so unmistakably Indian, has underlined the custom-built relevance of the company’s products and operations in the Indian context. Brand Ashok Leyland is essentially an experiential brand, its values felt in day-to-day life – more palpably by its immediate customers and end-users. It has layers of meanings, depending on the intimacy or remoteness of the relationship with it. To the customer, it conjures up images of a strong, sturdy, extremely reliable and caring brand. To the initiated, it is appropriate technology that makes economic sense. To its various stakeholders, it means more than just economic sense – it means a lasting relationship based on trust. The core of the brand has always been innovative, international, speedy, moving with the times – and often – even ahead of it. The innards of Ashok Leyland vehicles have always been contemporary. The core is now being matched by the contours of the new, modern, future-ready range of vehicles.
Recent Developments
Growth at Ashok Leyland has been threedimensional: capacity expansion, globalisation and diversification. Adding to its production capacity of 84,000 vehicles per annum, the company is setting up an integrated, state-of-the-art manufacturing unit with a 50,000-vehicle capacity at a green field site in Uttarakhand, slated to go on stream by the end of 2008. The company owns Prague-based AVIA Ashok Leyland Motors which manufactures and markets the famous D-Line series of trucks in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the UK, Spain and Ireland, where the brand enjoys a 15% market share in the 7.5 – 9 tonne segment. The company’s India-made vehicles are exported to over 20 countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. While the company enjoys leadership in Sri Lanka, it also dominates the standard bus markets of Mauritius and Dubai. To meet the growing demand in the overseas markets, an integrated chassis and bus
poised to grow exponentially, Ashok Leyland acquired Defiance Testing & Engineering, Detroit, a trusted testing partner for the American automotive industry. Together with Ashley Design & Engineering Services (ADES) – a division of Ashok Leyland – the company is now able to meet the needs of the transportation and other select industry verticals with end-toend solutions in the spectrum of design, engineering, prototyping, testing and validation. A very recent significant development has been Ashok Leyland’s entry into the highgrowth Light Commercial Vehicle segment in partnership with Nissan Motor Company. The partnership has formed three separate companies, one each for vehicle manufacture, power-train manufacture and technology development. The first products from this joint venture will hit the road by 2010. Ashok Leyland has entered into a 50:50 joint venture with the Alteams Group, Finland, for the manufacture of High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) extruded aluminium products predominantly for the telecommunication and automotive sectors. Another 50:50 joint venture, forged with Continental AG is for the design, development and adaptation of infotronic products and services for the transportation sector. The first product, a track and trace device called ‘Alert’ is already in the market. Ashok Leyland’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives revolve around the welfare of employees and their families, the driver community and those residing in the vicinity of its manufacturing units. The company’s initiatives for social engineering comprise the manufacture of eco-friendly vehicles, imparting comprehensive training to drivers, addressing their health concerns, pioneering the research and development of alternative fuels, enriching the community and bringing benefit to the company’s stakeholders.
www.ashokleyland.com
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
Ashok Leyland
At 60 million a day, Ashok Leyland buses carry more passengers than the Indian Railways Ashok Leyland is the only manufacturer of double-decker and vestibule models of buses in India With over 50,000 in service, the company is the largest supplier of logistics vehicles to the Indian Army Ashok Leyland marine engines enjoy over 90% market share in India
Promotion
‘Engineering your tomorrows’ has been the Ashok Leyland brand promise. The tagline finds expression at two levels: on the hard-core technology level, it is the sum total of the essential values of vehicle technology – safety, comfort, economy and ecology; on the aspirational level, it denotes a warm and
doc_977161241.pdf