The Hindu Business Line : Ashok Leyland to roll out luxury buses

According to Mr R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, two new luxury buses under the `InterCentury' brand will be launched by the third quarter of the current fiscal. The luxury buses will be launched through the company's joint venture firm Irizar TVS. "We will be launching two variants of the buses, priced much below similar offerings from competitors ," he said. The company also plans to introduce a new range of `Newgen' heavy trucks by March 2006 to cater to the growing demand for such vehicles in India.

Ashok Leyland is investing around Rs 200-250 crore to raise its capacity to 100,000 units in the next couple of years, from 63,000 units at the end of last fiscal.

Speaking on the company's operating margins, Mr Seshasayee said that though the pressure from increasing raw material costs has somewhat receded, the company's margins would continue to be under pressure. "They would, however, be better than last year. Further, our commercial vehicle sales should see a growth of about 10-15 per cent in the current fiscal," he said.

Despite a flat growth in the commercial vehicle industry so far this fiscal, Mr Seshasayee said that growth is expected to pick up post September, as the fundamentals of the market have not changed and remain strong. "I feel the commercial vehicle market would see a growth of more than 10 per cent this year. The basic demand is still there in the market. I don't see the usual alarm bells like lack of freight, default in interest payments and so on. Segments such as tractor trailers, tippers and construction equipment will drive growth," he said.

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