Ashok Leyland - John Deere unveils 435E Backhoe Loader

Hinduja Group flagship company Ashok Leyland has launched the latest backhoe Loader -- 435E Backhoe Loader -- under its joint venture with construction equipment manufacturer John Deere.

Ashok Leyland, Chairman, V Sumantran and Ashok Leyland John Deere Construction Equipment Company, CEO, P Ravishankar formally unveiled the 435E Backhoe Loader, here.

The 435E Backhoe Loader is targeted at first time buyers and offers 10 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency.

The Backhoe Loader is manufactured from the company's Gummidipoondi facility and equipped with 'H' series engine of Ashok Leyland, a company statement said.

"435E for us represents solid efficiency and for E defines our quest for offering a better fuel efficiency product. We believe both these products (435 variant and 435E) variant willl co-exist side by side and we have the ability to target two clients (separately)...," Sumantran told reporters here.

Noting that the company has retained all the "safety features" that was available in the previous variant (435 Backhoe Loader), Ravishankar said, the concept of launching a backhoe loader was in tune with the 17 per cent increase in diesel increase since October 2012.

"It gives unique opportunity for Indian customers to improve his position in the profitability of his business(by saving fuel costs)...," Ravishankar said.

The company claims that the customer would be able to save 20 per cent of EMI. Ashok Leyland John Deere Construction Equipment Company has 155 plus touch points across the country and has 1000 customers in two years of operations.