Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of the Hinduja group, seeks pre-pandemic level of sales in medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) in Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24) to mark its "highest peak".
Ashok Leyland, in sync with the industry, clocked peak MHCV sales volumes in 2017-18 at around 130,000 units. In FY23, the company's volumes stood at about 115,000 units. “This year, we are expecting at least to reach our highest peak,” said Sanjeev Kumar, head for MHCV at Ashok Leyland.
The growth would be driven by new launches and network addition, he said. The company plans some 15-16 launches in bus and truck segments in FY24, compared to 23 in FY23.
Kumar said that the MHCV industry in FY23 recorded a growth of 48 per cent while Ashok Leyland’s growth was 78 per cent.
Kumar said that the industry was “very close” to reaching all-time high numbers this year and the expectation is that it will grow at 8-10 per cent this year.
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The company is betting on East and North India for MHCV growth. North India is the biggest market for its MHCV and is expected to grow further. East India is becoming a “very attractive” destination due to increasing infrastructure projects, Kumar said.
Last year, the company gained a 3 per cent market share in eastern India in MHCV. Across India, the gain in market share for the company was five per cent.
“Government policies were favouring the industry—it is spending a lot of money on infrastructure,” Kumar said.
Ashok Leyland has earmarked a capex of Rs 500-700 crore in FY24. The investment in the current financial year would be in alternative fuel technology and debottlenecking.
The company is well-covered in terms of capacity, Kumar said.