Ashok Leyland appoints two new COOs, CFO given additional responsibility

Ashok Leyland on Thursday announced organisational changes by elevating two senior officials as chief operating officers and appointing a head for electric vehicle business. However, the company did not announce any name for the position of MD & CEO, which fell vacant after Vinod K Dasari quit in November 2018.

The changes are in line with the company’s philosophy of providing growth opportunities to talent from within the company. They are also in line with the Ashok Leyland's plans to shape the future growth strategies of the company and its portfolio of investments.

Gopal Mahadevan, who was recently appointed the whole-time director, in addition to his current role as CFO and president, customer solutions business, will also be responsible for information technology (IT), corporate strategy & business analytics.

The two new chief operating officers are Anuj Kathuria and Nitin Seth. While Kathuria will be responsible for all of medium & heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV) business, Seth, will look after light commercial vehicles (LCV), defence, international operations (IO) & power solutions business (PSB). 

N Saravanan, who was recently appointed as chief technology officer in addition to his current role, will also be responsible for the electric vehicles (EV) business.

"At Ashok Leyland we have always believed in nurturing and rewarding internal talent. We have a robust pipeline of leaders who are ready to take on greater challenges and these appointments are a fitting recognition of their contribution and capability. The Ashok Leyland team has performed well over the last few years and have collectively achieved its vision of breaking into the Global Top 10 in M&HCV Trucks and Global Top 5 in M&HCV Buses in volume terms. A milestone we are indeed very proud of and one which has encouraged us to aspire for greater goals,” said Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman, Ashok Leyland.