Auto slowdown: Ashok Leyland declares no production from October 2 to 15

The firm's sales declined across categories in September

Commercial Vehicle major Ashok Leyland Ltd has announced non-working days for the first half of the current month, starting from October 2 of the month in order to align production with its sales.

In a notification to the stock exchanges today, the company stated that in order to align its production in line with its sales, the firm's plants at various locations would be observing non-working days ranging from 2-15 days during the month of October 2019.

The Hinduja Group flagship has announced non-production for several days the past few months, following the slowdown in automobile sales. With inventory piling up with distributors, various automobile makers have announced no-production days to align their production in tandem with the slowdown in demand.

Earlier this week, Ashok Leyland reported a 69 per cent drop in domestic M&HCV sales during September 2019, to 4,035 units from 13,056 units a year ago. M&HCV trucks sales dropped 74 per cent to 3,131 units from 11,837 units, while bus sales were down 26 per cent to 904 units from 1,219. Light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales declined by 24 per cent to 3,816 units from 5,022 units. 

Total vehicles sales saw a dip by 57 per cent to 7,851 units from 18,078 units. Overall, domestic and exports sales dropped by 55 per cent to 8,780 units in September 2019 as compared to 19,374 units, a year ago.