Ashok Leyland, the renowned commercial vehicle manufacturer in India, is reportedly looking for an investor for its electric vehicle business. In line with this, the auto-maker recently shifted its EV business to the subsidiary Switch Mobility in order to tap growth opportunities more efficiently.
Speaking on this, Mr Gopal Mahadevan, CFO, Ashok Leyland said, We need investment for product development and technology for e-LCVs and e-buses. The switch will have the electric version of the Dost and Bada Dost. The EV initiative is going to be extremely crucial for us. We have seen quite a bit of interest from investors, but we are waiting for the right financial and strategic partners.
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It must be noted here that Ashok Leyland is also planning to launch not one but two CNG-powered trucks in the last quarter of the ongoing financial year. We are planning to launch two ICVs (intermediate commercial vehicle) trucks in the CNG segment in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal. After that we will keep launching a new product every quarter and will be offering the CNG version in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) at a later stage, said Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO.
The government is encouraging CNG and ALL is ready to take it forward to ensure that in the coming years a large part of the fleet is capable of running on CNG. By introducing CNG products in ICVs and LCVs we will also be able to gain considerable market share further, he added. On being asked about the challenges that the manufacturer faces in the EV industry, Mr Sondhi said that even though the demand has been on a rise due to the push from the government for fast adoption of EVs, the increase in commodity prices and the semi-conductor shortage, along with the lack of containers for exports, has been the major inhibitors of the growth. That said, he believes that the scrappage policy and the PLI scheme should work in favour of the CV industry.
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He also said that in the international market, Ashok Leyland will work as per a three-pronged strategy by increasing its presence in SAARC and Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The manufacturer plans to expand into African markets through the appointment of new retail partners while it even hopes to grow further in South East Asian countries. Meanwhile, Mr Mahadevan revealed that the manufacturer has managed to reduce its net debt sequentially by more than Rs 1,000 crore.
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