Ashok Leyland plans up to 12 non-working days in sixth such move since July

The company has been suffering a massive and sustained drop in CV sales due to weak offtake brought on by economic slowdown

Commercial Vehicle major Ashok Leyland Ltd plans to observe between 2 and 12 non-working days at some of its plants this month.

The company said this is part of its plan to align production with the market demand for its products.

The company has been cutting production drastically since July, when its plant at Pantnagar was shut for nine days, between July 16 and July 24. Production was also stopped for 10 days in August, between 5 and 18 days in September, between 2 and 15 days in October, and up to 12 days in November.

The production cuts have been introduced due to weak demand for the company's commercial vehicles. Domestic CV sales dropped by over 17 per cent in November, going by individual company-announced despatches, to 57,510 units from 69,666 units a year ago.

Ashok Leyland, the country's second-largest CV maker, saw a decline in domestic M&HCV and Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) sales of 25 per cent to 9,377 units in November, from 12,570 units a year ago. Its M&HCV sales alone were down 36 per cent to 5,321 units from 8,260 units.

Domestic trucks sales dropped 55 per cent to 3,447 units from 7,627 units during the period under review. On the other hand, its domestic bus sales were up 196 per cent to 1,874 units from 633 units, driven by government orders.