Ashok Leyland to manufacture over one lakh vehicles this year

Bangalore, Apr 9 (UNI) Automobile giant Ashok Leyland will cross production of over one lakh vehicles this year, company Managing Director R Seshasayee said today.

Speaking to newspersons here after delivering specially designed multi-axle vehicles to VRL Logistics, he said the company had manufactured over 83,000 vehicles last year.

Mr Seshasayee opined that the increase in interest rate would have an adverse impact on the growth rate of commercial vehicles, bringing it down from the present 30-35 per cent to 10-15 per cent.

However, it would not have any effect on the company's production capacity as it was customer-centric.

He said the company had completed delivery of over 250 specially designed vehicles as against an order for 600, the largest single order received by the company from a private sector customer.

VRL Logistics Chairman Vijay Sankeshwar said 1,000 vehicles would be inducted into the company this year, of which 800 were from Ashok Leyland. The total investment was around Rs 200 crore. The company was outsourcing nearly 30 per cent of its business due to shortage of vehicles and it was expected to come down to 20 per cent with the new inductions, he hoped.

He urged the automotive manufacturer to introduce improvements such as GPS, increased cabin facilities and increase in payload capacity in trucks.

UNI