Ashok Leyland plans to expand global footprint with EVs
The Hindu
Ashok Leyland Limited plans to expand global footprint, enter new markets aggressively. MD/CEO Shenu Agarwal and Executive Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja discuss plans to reach Top 10 global commercial vehicle players, launch E1 bus in Europe, switch to alternate fuels and appoint distributors in African markets.
Ashok Leyland Ltd (ALL), which is currently celebrating 75th years of service, is planning to expand its global footprint and enter new markets in a much more aggressive manner, said the company top officials.
“We are going to expand our global footprint in much more aggressive manner with the new products and new technologies that we are investing in,” said ALL Managing Director and CEO Shenu Agarwal during an interaction.
The company also has plans to expand its distributors network to attain its vision to be among the Top 10 global commercial vehicle players in the near future from the current 20th position, he said.
“On the electric buses segment, you can see us going into European market quite aggressively and that will create a good footprint for us in Europe and UK,” said ALL Executive Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja.
“We are excited about the launch of E1 bus in the European markets in the next few months. Breaking into European market is not that easy as it has strongest competitors with various established brands and networks,” he said.
Asserting that the market dynamics is changing with the roll out of more vehicles with alternate fuels, he said that customers themselves were willing to try new brands, if you can offer products with right features at right price point.
“Switch Mobility has started making some breakthrough. European bus has been developed on world class standard and with product like that we will definitely enter into lot of European markets. When you see 26 countries part of EU, a lot of trade can happen. So, we are not constrained to traditional markets alone. As we move forward, we will keep moving into new markets,” he said.
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