Ashok Leyland's LCV gamble pays off with a little help from the pandemic

Its offering Bada Dost has helped in huge market share and volume gains

A decade back when Ashok Leyland partnered with Nissan Motor to enter the light commercial vehicle market as part of a strategy to de-risk itself from cyclical swings of the medium and heavy commercial segments, it was viewed with skepticism. The Hinduja Group flagship was a challenger in a segment that was the stronghold of Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra.

But the company took the challenge head on and entered the market with the Dost, a sub 3.5 tonne small commercial vehicle in 2011. A decade later, encouraged by the brand taking great strides in the last mile connectivity segment,