Nissan-Ashok Leyland LCV JV on a bumpy ride

With the joint venture (JV) between auto majors Nissan and Ashok Leyland hitting a rough patch on the backdrop of declining sales and investments being written down in the JV, now reports suggest the Japanese company might sue its Indian partner.

While a Nissan spokesperson said company didn't want to comment on the issue, source said no concrete decision has been taken so far. An email sent to a spokesperson of Ashok Leyland remained unanswered. According to sources, the company told internally that Nissan, the JV partner of Ashok Leyland in the light commercial vehicle JV, is looking at various options ranging from reviving the partnership to suing the partner.

The partners could look at options to revive the partnership and find ways to move forward. or have discussions for an amicable settlement or ultimately opt for legal remedies.

Amway along with a clutch of other direct sellers had issued notices to online marketplaces such as Flipkart and Snapdeal asking them to desist selling their products at a discounted price. They claimed this was hitting their direct-selling business, which is a Rs 7,000-crore-strong market in India.

The inability of top direct sellers, say experts, to prevent online transactions of their products is now prompting them to look at allied ways and means to curb this practice. The selective introduction of the digital platform to a few customers by Amway, could prompt it, experts say, to take the platform to a broader audience in the future.

Already, companies such as Hindustan Unilever and Eureka Forbes have taken the lead in this direction. HUL shut its direct-to-home model HUL Network recently, shifting its entire range of products under Aviance and Ayush to ecommerce platforms such as Amazon. Another direct seller, the Shapoor-Pallonji-Group-owned Eureka Forbes has launched online-only models of some of its products in response to the challenge posed by e-commerce websites.