While test driving the N-truck, a code name for its yet-to-be-launched medium and heavy commercial vehicle, at a quarry in Keerapakkam, Tamil Nadu, Ashok Leyland’s Managing Director, Vinod Dasari, learnt a simple truth. One may pack the vehicle with fancy gizmos, but the user may not want any of the “unnecessary frills”.

When Dasari asked the truck driver what he liked the most about the vehicle, he was expecting him to gush over the “beauty of the cab”. But the driver said emphatically: “A 6-CD changer is nice but all I want is a USB port to listen to Tamil music. Often, the CD does not work with the dust. A DVD player is a distraction while I drive. And no need for a radio – in a mine, there is no radio signal.” He also said the “large luminous” light on top was useful to read a newspaper or magazine as he waited inside the dark quarry.

Ashok Leyland is eager to pack in a lot of such learning, as it gears up for the launch of its N-truck, a 16-to-49 tonnes ready-to-go vehicle with a factory-built cab, made at its factory in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. This will come later this year, after the Boss, an 8-15 tonnes intermediate commercial vehicle scheduled for launch next month.

Made in Pantnagar as well, the Boss (which Ashok Leyland sells in Europe as Avia) vehicles have clocked five lakh km of testing (including running on two left tyres as vehicles sometimes swerve off roads with a narrow tarmac). ).

In the Boss (“our vehicles’ names are following a pattern, Dost, Partner, Boss..” he says), Ashok Leyland has installed an automated manual transmission, developed in association with Wabco. Unlike auto transmission, in this, a sensor on top of the manual transmission box chooses the gear based on engine RPM, pedal position and load condition. Dasari talks excitedly about the lady owner of a large fleet who drove this vehicle and was totally taken in by it. Leyland, he says, bagged an order for 150 trucks with this system.

Rust-proof warranty

The Boss also promises a three-year rust-proof warranty, bumper to bumper. The company will pay up if the vehicle rusts, insists Dasari.

The company hopes the Boss will plug in the gaps in the 7.5-15 tonnes segment. Historically, Ashok Leyland has had only a 2-3 per cent market share in this segment. With the upgrades to its Ecomet vehicle, it gained share to 11 per cent last year, albeit on a small base.

At the lower range, Ashok Leyland has the Dost (with a payload of 1.25 tonnes), in a joint venture with Nissan, which gave a respectable boost to Leyland’s volumes last year.

The company is also launching its Neptune engine this year which offers higher horse power and will be available on multi-axle vehicles. Its LCV joint venture with Nissan will launch the Partner and Stile, apart from Dost variants.

The slowdown has seen Ashok Leyland’s 5,000-odd executives taking a five per cent pay cut this year. The company has also scaled back investments in capacity addition. But no cutting back on investments on new products, says Dasari.

“We can either cry about the market or offer the right things to the customer so that he chooses you and rewards you. Last year, the total industry volume fell 25 per cent; we gained a market share of 3 per cent. We can’t do anything about industry volume falling,” he explains.

The idea is to be “future-ready”, reiterates Dasari. “This is not a fire where we are running towards the exit. In times like these, the customer is watching if you are really serious. There will be no slowdown on tooling and employee development programmes that enhance the quality of the company.”

swetha.kannan@thehindu.co.in

vinay.kamath@thehindu.co.in

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