Ashok Leyland eyes 5-fold increase in light CVs' export; to invest Rs 4 bn

It's targeting all Gulf countries, Russia, Ukraine and lot of West African countries that follow left-hand drive

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Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland is aimming to increase its export basket of light commercial vehicles (LCV) to 25 per cent from the present 5 per cent iver the next three years, a senior official said.

Nitin Sethi, president, Light Commercial Vehicles, Ashok Leyland said that the company will also be investing Rs 4 billion (Rs 400 crore) into a new platform of LCVs that will continue to launch a new product every six months.

"We are targeting all the Gulf countries, Russia, Ukraine and lot of West African countries that follow left-hand drive. Our left-hand drive vehicles will start coming from June this year.

"Today, only 5 per cent of our volumes are from exports and our ambition should be at least 25 per cent in the next three years," Sethi said.

He said that all the vehicles manufactured by the company presently cater to right-hand drive markets and is exported to Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries, whereas 80 per cent of the global market follows left-hand driving.

"We have 15 per cent market share of the LCV market in the country. We hope to grow between 20-30 per cent as we move forward," Sethi said at the launch of DOST+, a new LCV here.