• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy
• Books
• Gallery

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

— P.V. Sivakumar

Mr Vinod K. Dasari (left), Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ashok Leyland, with Mr Rajiv Sanghvi, Executive Director, Automotive Manufacturers Ltd, at the launch of the vehicle in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Our Bureau

Hyderabad, July 30 Launching its latest multi-axle vehicle (MAV) 3116, the Hinduja Group’s flagship commercial vehicle manufacturer, Ashok Leyland Ltd, on Thursday said that its Rs 1,300-crore greenfield plant at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand is set for commissioning by March 2010.

The Pantnagar plant will focus on medium and heavy vehicle platforms.

Based on the feedback from customers on 3121 8x2 MAV, this new vehicle has been designed to address issues of lowering operating cost, especially in one-way applications, said Mr Vinod K. Dasari, Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ashok Leyland.

Addressing a press conference here after the launch of the vehicle, along with the Managing Director of Automotive Manufacturers Ltd, Mr Rajiv Sanghvi, Mr Dasari said that there was a gradual shift towards MAV due to their versatile nature and flexibility to use in different applications.

The general economic slowdown had impacted the commercial vehicle segment but there were signs of recovery. It would take a couple of quarters for the momentum to come back, he said.

However, Mr Dasari said the company had not swayed from R&D focus on compliance to BS III and BS IV emission norms, brand new Neptune series of engines, development of new modular platform and diversification.

The company venture with Nissan for LCVs and another venture with John Deere for construction equipment vehicles were on course for 2011, he said.

Referring to their venture in Prague, acquired about two and a half years ago, Mr Dasari said that one of the hybrid vehicles supplied to Schmidt was delivered in the US. It would not be long before similar hybrids are rolled out in India. However, some concessions are required to ensure early roll out in India, he added.

More Stories on : New Projects | New Products & Services | HCV/LCV/Tractors

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line