India’s commercial vehicles (CV) segment is gearing up for green mobility with Hinduja Group company Ashok Leyland contemplating setting up a factory in the country to make electric vehicles (EVs) with an eye to be among the top-10 CV players in the world.
The Chennai-based manufacturer of commercial vehicles has also set aside around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) to develop powertrains based on alternative fuels like electric, CNG and hydrogen.
Ashok Leyland will be infusing $200 million or about Rs 1,500 crore through its UK subsidiary Switch Mobility for electric mobility.
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| Ashok Leyland electric bus. |
The commercial vehicles firm, besides its plan to expand into electric vehicles, is also developing new engines to cater to the needs of both Indian as well as global markets.
It seems that the auto major could bet not only on electric vehicles but may even consider manufacturing hydrogen and CNG CVs.
In Spain, the auto major is setting up a manufacturing unit as well as a research and development (R&D) centre in the next few years. In India, Ashok Leyland will be “optimising” its facilities, executive chairman Dheeraj Hinduja had said.
He said that the company is looking at the opportunities and options, adding that capacity will not be an issue if the market requires it. “We are keeping our alternatives and options open,” Hinduja said.
Right now, the company is “comfortable” with its production capacity for the next two years, he said.
On Ashok Leyland’s EV plans, he said Dost and Bada Dost models would be sold in India as well as in SAARC countries.
“We are also considering making a new light commercial vehicle (LCV) range from the perspective of Switch. This will cater to the European, the UK and US markets,” Hinduja added.
A slew of new customers have started adopting EV models and this a global trend.
Assessing that there could be a seachange in the market considering the Centre’s big push for EVs in the country, Ashok Leyland is upbeat that more buyers will opt for electric CVs. Hence, it has felt the need to deviate production towards EVs.
Its vision is to be among the top-10 commercial vehicles makers, globally. The automaker wants to create reliable and differentiated products as well as solutions. Ashok Leyland aims to deliver outstanding stakeholder value, Hinduja said.
So, it seems that the Hinduja Group will be testing the waters of India’s EV ground as it knows that this is a highly price-sensitive market. Hence, electric vehicles with prohibitive prices will find few takers.
With the India unit, Ashok Leyland is targeting three things — the domestic and global markets as well as different fuel types, besides electric vehicles.
So, if Ashok Leyland becomes the early bird in the CV electric vehicle segment, and puts its plans to set up an EV unit in the fast lane, it could also do a survey so that it understands the pricing factor.
And, if Ashok Leyland EV manufacturing unit rolls out affordable vehicles, it may create lasting impressions in India’s as well as the global commercial vehicles space and the CV company could surely find a place in world rankings.
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