New Managing Director Dasari outlines fresh company vision
Ashok Leyland Ltd. of the Hinduja Group is all set to become the world’s fifth largest player in bus manufacturing and the tenth largest in trucks within the next five to 10 years.
This note of extreme optimism was struck by the company’s new Managing Director, Mr. Vinod K. Dasari, while addressing the first press conference in Chennai after assumption of office.
In order to achieve the company’s ambitious targets, he said Ashok Leyland has identified five key areas, namely, Execution, Quality, Innovation, Performance and Efficiency (EQIPE). The other major goals are to get the coveted Denim Award as well as its greater focus on the branding exercise.
Investing for the future
As for its sales performance, Mr. Dasari said that for the first time the company has sold 11,000 units in March 2011, and for 2011-12 it is targeting sales of over one lakh vehicles in the domestic market compared to 94,000 units in 2010-11. In order to meet the growing demand for its vehicles, Ashok Leyland will continue to invest on expansion of its various facilities, including the Pantnagar as well as Alwar units. It also has plans to make huge investment on the Neptune engines as well as develop the state-of-the-art new cabin. With all this, Ashok Leyland vehicles will have a new transmission, new engine and new cabin.
With a view to bringing the latest technology through its new vehicle models, the company will double its expenditure on R&D activities. It is also investing on the future growth in view of the growing competition in the Indian commercial vehicle market.
However, he made it clear that maintenance of profitability will remain the core value of Ashok Leyland. Since 75 per cent of the vehicle cost goes into raw materials, the company will adopt a special strategy on lean management. In the last six months, the company launched new vehicle models and their variants, and within the next 18 to 20 months, all the trucks will be made on the U-Truck platform.
Further, there are plans to double dealership outlets from 170 to 350 in two years. With this expansion, the dealership will be in a position to attend to a service call within four hours.
Referring to export prospects, Mr. Dasari said AL is looking at opportunities for partnerships at the global level. Currently its vehicles have ready market acceptance in Sri Lanka and the Middle-East countries, and the company focus has now shifted to Africa, Latin America, CIS countries, etc.
