Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland today said it expects the commercial vehicles industry to grow 20 per cent year-on-year.
"Last time when we met, we said we expect the industry to grow at 20 per cent year-on-year. We still maintain that outlook. Let's hope the economy starts to recover in third and fourth quarters," Ashok Leyland's Chief Financial Officer Gopal Mahadevan told reporters.
Yesterday, the heavy commercial vehicle maker reported over two-fold rise in net profit at Rs 287 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015.
The Chennai-based company had posted a net profit of Rs 121 crore during the same period of previous fiscal.
Asked whether the company has set any sales target for the coming quarters, Mahadevan said, "We set up strategies and move forward on a quarter on quarter basis. In fourth quarter, there should be good growth."
"Our focus is to show profitability. We want to address our customer requirements. We are focusing on distribution and product quality," he said.
The company is also focussing on expanding its presence.
"We are looking at North Eastern region for growth. Earlier, we had a market share of seven per cent. Now it is 21 per cent," he said.
To a query on whether the company was planning to set up facilities in Africa, he replied in the affirmative.
"It is progressing. We have identified some places now. We will be setting up offices there (African region). We are looking at expanding our presence in Middle East region also", he said.
Ashok Leyland currently has a facility at Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates.
The company sold 46,074 units in April-September this year, as against 17,784 units sold during the same period last year.
Its market share in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment increased to 33.1 per cent as of September 30, 2015 as against 27.1 per cent registered during same period of last year.
On the exports front, the company's sales increased by nine per cent to 5,263 units during the six month period ending September 30, as against 4,825 units sold during same period of last year.
