Ashok Leyland is an Indian automobile manufacturing company based in Chennai, India.

Founded in 1948, it is the 2nd largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India, 4th largest
manufacturer of buses in the world and 16th largest manufacturer of trucks globally.
Operating six plants, Ashok Leyland also makes spare parts and engines for industrial and
marine applications. It sells about 60,000 vehicles and about 7,000 engines annually. It is the
second largest commercial vehicle company in India in the medium and heavy commercial
vehicle (M&HCV) segment with a market share of 28% (200708). With passenger
transportation options ranging from 19 seaters to 80 seaters, Ashok Leyland is a market
leader in the bus segment. The company claims to carry more than 60 million passengers a
day, more people than the entire Indian rail network. In the trucks segment Ashok Leyland
primarily concentrates on the 16 ton to 25 ton range of trucks. However Ashok Leyland has
presence in the entire truck range starting from 7.5 tons to 49 tons. With a joint venture
with Nissan Motors of Japan the company made its presence in the Light Commercial Vehicle
(LCV) segment (<7.5 tons).
Ashok Leyland's UK subsidiary Optare has shut down its bus factory in Blackburn, Lancashire.
[2] This subsidiary's traditional home in Leeds has also been vacated in favour of a purpose
built plant at Sherburn-in-Elmet.

Contents
[hide]

1 History
1.1 Ashok Motors
1.2 Under Leyland
1.3 Under Iveco and Hinduja partnership
1.4 Hinduja Group
2 Products
2.1 Early Vehicles
2.1.1 Comet
2.1.2 Titan

 2.1.3 Hino Engine

2.1.4 Iveco Partnership
2.2 Current Range
2.2.1 U-Truck
2.2.2 Dost
2.2.3 Boss
3 Subsidiary ventures
3.1 Construction Equipment
3.2 Nissan Ashok Leyland
3.3 Ashok Leyland Defence Systems
4 Ashok Leyland foreign operations
4.1 Lanka Ashok Leyland
4.2 Avia
4.3 Optare
5 Technology
5.1 Hythane engines
5.2 CNG Engines
5.3 Nissan partnership
5.4 Hybrid Technology

 5.5 iBUS
5.6 Quality
6 Financials
7 Exports
8 Facilities
8.1 Manufacturing Units
8.1.1 India
8.1.2 Europe
8.1.3 Middle East
8.2 Technical Centre
9 Products
9.1 Current Buses
9.2 Goods segment
10 Gallery
10.1 Truck/Lorry
10.2 Bus
11 See also
12 References
13 External links

History[edit]

Raghunandan Saran, Founder of Ashok Leyland

Ashok Motors[edit]
Ashok Leyland was founded in 1948 by Raghunandan Saran, a freedom fighter from Punjab.
[3] After Independence he was persuaded by Indias first Prime Minister Nehru, to invest in
modern industrial venture. Thus Ashok Motors was incorporated in 1948 as a company to
assemble and manufacture Austin cars from England, and the company was named after the
founders only son Ashok Saran . The company had its headquarters in Rajaji
Saalai, Chennai (then Madras) with the plant in Ennore, a small fishing hamlet in the North of
Chennai. The Company was engaged in assembly and distribution of Austin A40 passenger
cars in India.

Under Leyland[edit]
Sometime later, the founder Raghunandan Saran passed away in an air crash, prior to that he
had been negotiating with Leyland of Britain for assembly of commercial vehicles as he
envisioned commercial vehicle were more in need at that time than were passenger cars. The
company later under Madras State Government and other shareholders finalised for an
investment and technology partner and thus the British based Leyland Motors joined in 1954
with equity participation byLeyland Motors, changing the name of the company to Ashok
Leyland. Ashok Leyland then started manufacturing commercial vehicles. Under Leyland's
management with British expatriate and Indian executives the company grew in strength to
become one of India's foremost commercial vehicle manufacturers.
The collaboration ended sometime in 1975 but the holding of British Leyland, now a major
British Auto Conglomerate as a result of several mergers agreed to assist in technology which
continued until the 1980s. Post 1975, changes in management structures saw the company
launch various advanced vehicles and pioneering innovations in the Indian market, with many
of these models continuing to this day with numerous upgrades over the years.

Under Iveco and Hinduja partnership[edit]

In 1987, the overseas holding by Land Rover Leyland International Holdings Limited (LRLIH)
was taken over by a joint venture between the Hinduja Group, the Non-Resident Indian
transnational group and IVECO, part of the Fiat Group. Ashok Leylands long-term plan to
become a global player by benchmarking global standards of technology and quality was
soon firmed up. Access to international technology and a US$200 million investment

programme created a state-of-the-art manufacturing base to roll out international class

products.

Hinduja Group[edit]
In 2007, the Hinduja Group also bought out IVECO's indirect stake in Ashok Leyland. The
promoter shareholding now stands at 51%. Today the company is the flagship of theHinduja
Group, a British-based and Indian originated trans-national conglomerate after Hindujas
bought Ivecos remaining ownership stakes.

Products[edit]
Early Vehicles[edit]

India's first Semi -Trailer Ashok Leyland Comet (Cab) on a Mahindra Owen Semi Trailer 10-12 Ton Capacity
built in 1959.

Comet[edit]
Early products included the Leyland Comet bus which was a passenger body built on a truck
chassis sold in large numbers to many operators in India. By 1963, the Comet was operated
by every State Transport Undertaking in India, and over 8,000 were in service. It was soon
joined in production by a version of the Leyland Tiger.
Titan[edit]
In 1968, production of the Leyland Titan ceased in Britain, but was restarted by Ashok Leyland
in India. The Titan PD3 chassis was modified, and a five speed heavy duty constant-mesh
gearbox was used together with the Ashok Leyland version of the O.680 engine. The Ashok
Leyland Titan was very successful and continued in production for many years.

Hino Engine[edit]

An Ashok Leyland BEST bus in Mumbai. This bus has the Hino Engine.

During early 80's Ashok Leyland entered into a collaboration with Japanese company Hino
Motors from whom technology for the H-series engines was sourced. Many indigenous
versions of H-series engine were developed with 4 and 6 cylinders and also conforming to BS2
and BS3 emission standards in India. These engines proved to be extremely popular with the
customers primarily for their excellent fuel efficiency. Most current models of Ashok Leyland
come with H-series engines.
Iveco Partnership[edit]
In late 1980s Iveco investment and partnership resulted in Ashok Leyland launching the
'Cargo' range of trucks based on European Ford Cargo trucks. The Cargo entered production in
1994, at Ashok Leyland's new plant in Hosur, southeast of Bangalore.[4] These vehicles used
Iveco engines and for the first time had factory-fitted cabs. Though the Cargo trucks are no
longer in production and the use of Iveco engine was discontinued, the cab continues to be
used on the Ecomet range of trucks as well as for several of Ashok Leyland's military
vehicles.
The Cargo was originally introduced in 7 and 9 long tons (7,100 and 9,100 kg) versions; later
on heavier-duty models from 15 to 26 long tons (15,200 to 26,400 kg) were progressively
introduced.[5]

Current Range[edit]
U-Truck[edit]

Ashok Leyland's Modern Truck with factory built G-90 New Gen Cab

Ashok Leyland, announced sale of vehicles on the new U-Truck platform from November, 2010

with the rolling out of the first set of 10 models of tippers and tractor trailers in the 16 49tonne segment. Further, another 15 models are set to enter the market in the next 12
months.
Dost[edit]

Ashok Leyland's entry into Light Commercial Vehicle segment with Dost

The Dost is a 1.25 ton light commercial vehicle (LCV) that is the first product to be launched
by the Indian-Japanese commercial vehicle joint venture Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles. Dost
is powered by a 58 hp high-torque, 3-cylinder, turbo-charged Common Rail Diesel engine and
has a payload capacity of 1.25 Tonnes. It is available in both BS3 and BS4 versions. The
bodywork and some of the underpinnings relate to Nissan's C22 Vanette of the 1980s; this is
most visible in the door design. The LCV is being produced in Ashok Leyland's Hosur plant in
Tamilnadu. The LCV is available in three versions with the top-end version featuring airconditioning, power steering, dual-colour of a beige-gray trim and fabric seats. With the
launch of Dost Ashok Leyland has now entered the Light Commercial Vehicle segment in
India[6][7][8][9][10]
Boss[edit]
Boss is an Intermediate Commercial Vehicle launched by Ashok Leyland. This is available in
the range of 8T to 14T. This is available with two engine options 120IL(LE) and 130CRS(LX)
engines and both are first time such an engines are offered in this range of trucks. The LX
variant is available with Air condition and Leymatic AMT which are again the industry first.

Subsidiary ventures[edit]
Construction Equipment[edit]
Furthermore, in June 2009 the company expanded into the fastest growing construction
equipment segment, with a 50:50 joint venture with John Deere. Floated as separate entity
under the name of Leyland Deere Limited.[11]

Nissan Ashok Leyland[edit]

In 2007, the company announced a joint venture with Japanese auto giant Nissan (Renault
Nissan Group) which will share a common manufacturing facility in Chennai, India. The
shareholding structures of the three joint venture companies are:
Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles Pvt. Ltd., the vehicle manufacturing company will be owned
51% by Ashok Leyland and 49% by Nissan

Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain Pvt. Ltd., the powertrain manufacturing company will be
owned 51% by Nissan and 49% by Ashok Leyland
Nissan Ashok Leyland Technologies Pvt. Ltd., the technology development company will be
owned 50:50 by the two partners.
Dr. V. Sumantran, Executive Vice Chairman of Hinduja Automotive Limited and a Director on
the Board of Ashok Leyland is the Chairman of the Powertrain company and he is on the
Boards of the other two JV companies. The venture, once it takes off, will be one of the largest
investments made in automotive field in the country

Ashok Leyland Defence Systems[edit]

An Ashok Leyland Stallion 4x4 Army Truck in Himalayas

An Indian road-mobile launcher with a ballistic missile

Ashok Leyland's Stallion Kavach 4X4 Mine Protection Armoured Vehicle

Ashok Leyland Defence Systems (ALDS) is a newly floated company by the Hinduja Group.
Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of Hinduja group, holds 26 percent in the newly formed
Ashok Leyland Defence Systems (ALDS). The newly floated company has a mandate to design
and develop defence logistics and tactical vehicles, defence communication and other
systems.[12]Ashok Leyland is the largest supplier of logistics vehicles to the Indian Army. It has
supplied over 60,000 of its Stallion vehicles which form the Army's logistics backbone. [13]

Ashok Leyland foreign operations[edit]

Lanka Ashok Leyland[edit]

A Lanka Ashok Leyland bus in Sri Lanka in 2013

Lanka Ashok Leyland buses

Lanka Ashok Leyland (LAL) in Sri Lanka was formed in 1982 and started its operations in 1983
as a Joint venture between Lanka Leyland Ltd (a wholly owned company of Government of Sri
Lanka) and Ashok Leyland Ltd India. LAL imports commercial vehicles in both knock down kits
or fully built and carries out assembly operations, repair and service, body building on
chassis.[14]

Avia[edit]
In October 2006, Ashok Leyland bought a large stake in the Czech based- Avia, later renaming
as Avia Ashok Leyland Motors s.r.o., to gain entry into the competitive European market. But
prolonged recession in Europe forced to shut down the Czech operations in 2013.

Optare[edit]
In 2010 Ashok Leyland acquired a 26% stake in the British bus manufacturer Optare, a
company based on the premises of a former British Leyland subsidiary C.H. Roe. In December
2011 Ashok Leyland increased its stake in Optare to 75.1%.

Technology[edit]

Ashok Leyland Railbusmanufactured by Sri Lankan Railway engineers

The history of the company has been punctuated by a number of technological innovations,
which have since become industry norms. It was the first to introduce multi-axled trucks, full
air brakes and a host of innovations like the rear engine and articulated buses in India. In
1997, the company launched the countrys first CNG bus and in 2002, developed the first
Hybrid Electric Vehicle.

A Rural Mobile health clinic built on Ashok Leyland's e-comet truck

Ashok Leyland was already producing low-emission vehicles. Back in 1980s and 90s, Ashok
Leyland with various Tamil Nadu Transport Corporatiopn, notably Cholan Roadways
Corporation based in Trichripally experimented with low pollutant emission based on the CNG
technology. In 2002 it developed the first hybrid electric vehicle. Ashok Leyland has also
launched a mobile emission clinic that operates on highways and at entry points to New Delhi.
The clinic checks vehicles for emission levels, recommends remedies and offers tips on
maintenance and care. This work will help generate valuable data and garner insight that will
guide further development.

Hythane engines[edit]
Ashok Leyland has also developed Hythane engines in association with the Australian
company Eden Energy. Ashok Leyland successfully developed a 6-cylinder, 6-litre (370 cu in)
92 kW (123 hp) BS-4 engine which uses Hythane (H-CNG,) which is a blend of natural gas and
around 20% of hydrogen. Hydrogen helps improve the efficiency of the engine but the CNG
aspect makes sure that emissions are at a controlled level. A 4-cylinder 4-litre (240 cu in)
63 kW (84 hp) engine is also being developed for H-CNG blend in a joint R&D program with

MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) and Indian Oil Corporation.

CNG Engines[edit]
The CNG concept is now in full swing, with more than 5,500 of the technologys vehicles
running around Delhi. The company is also already discussing the wide-scale use of Hythane
engine