Ashok Leyland has already started planning the second phase of its light commercial vehicle (LCV) production, and hopes to enter phase II three years from now, according to a top official of the company. The company plans to have a total investment of Rs 2,300 crore to Rs 2,400 crore in both these phases. Ashok Leyland, in joint venture with Nissan Motoring Company, now manufactures LCVs, and commercially launched its LCV DOST in Bangalore on Thursday.

“Originally, our plan was to invest Rs 2,300 crore at the start of programme, but due to delay in land allocation, we decided to use our existing facility at Hosur and Nissan's at Oragadam, and the entire programme (phase 1) was possible with half that investment,” said Dr V. Sumantran, Executive Vice-Chairman, Hinduja Automotive Ltd, and Chairman Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain Ltd.

The second phase would take up the rest of the planned investment, and work has already started at the Sriperumbudur site in Tamil Nadu for setting up the facility, he added. The company plans to have three platforms in phase 1, with a cumulative capacity of 1.5 lakh units. There are two more platforms — mini-vans and larger LCV trucks — being planned.

“We are working on the second and third platforms and hope to cover the entire spectrum of LCVs,” said Dr Sumantran, adding that the company would spread the launch “12-15 months of each platform”.

On the volumes for DOST, he said, “We are targeting a steady state volume of 55,000 units a year, and production is being ramped up.” DOST has been priced at Rs 3.79-4.37 lakh (ex-Bangalore), and will be sold through a lean network with a new infrastructure, which will grow to 60 main nodes by fiscal-end.

The company wants to focus on an even-pacing expansion of its distribution network for its LCVs now, “and focus on the domestic market next year,” he said, adding that it was also getting ready for three export markets.

He, however, refused to divulge the markets on the company's radar.

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