May 14, 2012: Ashok Leyland has registered a sales turnover of Rs 12,841 crore during 2011-12 compared to Rs 11,177.11 crore in 2010-11, reflecting an increase of 14.9 percent. Net profit, however, was down by 10.3 percent at Rs 565.98 crore (Rs 631.30 crore in 2010-11).
The highlights of the last fiscal, according to the company, were recording highest overall sales volume of 101,990 vehicles; exports of 12,852 units– a growth of 25 percent; and the success of the Dost small commercial vehicle in the six markets in which it was launched. Production also touched an all-time high of 103,319 vehicles.
“FY 2011-12 saw quite a few triumphs for us. Our sales and production numbers reached all-time highs, the initial market feedback for the Dost was overwhelming, we climbed a new peak in international operations both in terms of volumes and new markets tapped, our ramp-up of the Pantnagar plant was robust and complete and, to top it all, we were able to sharpen our focus on our customers by significantly increasing our network,” said Vinod K Dasari, managing director, Ashok Leyland.
The company’s efforts to protect its bottom line through focus on non-cyclical or support businesses yielded rich dividends with Leyparts, the spare parts business, growing aggressively by 20 percent and both the Defence and Power Solutions businesses able to hold their own.
On the domestic front, Dasari felt that more could have been achieved. Although the company gained market share in the Central region for the first time and in the Tipper and ICV segments, growth in other segments was muted. “We were hit from many sides: our strongest market - South India - was depressed. Also, segments like ICV in which we are not too strong grew substantially. We have, however, rebounded. We gained market share in March 2012 and continued the good showing in April. We hope to keep up this momentum,” he added.
Speaking about the prospects for FY 2012-13, Dasari (seen here with cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni) said, “We feel the full year volumes would grow as there are signs of robust growth in some segments. We also have a number of innovative products ready to roll out like the Jan Bus and the 10x2 and with a new thrust to our brand building efforts with our new brand ambassador, M S Dhoni, the coming year should be an interesting one for us,” he concluded.
The CV major has recently rolled back the prices of its vehicles by 1 percent, following the government’s decision to reduce excise duty on truck chassis. The company had hiked prices by 5 percent in early May 2012, following the increase in excise duty on truck chassis announced during the 2012 Union Budget.