FIRST ASHOK LEYLAND DOST ROLL OUT

Ashok Leyland and Nissan Motor Company rolled out on July,22 its first Product, the Ashok Leyland DOST   from AL's Hosur facility. The first Vehicle was sye mbolically driven out from the dedicated newly commissioned light commercial vehicles line.

Dost will be available in 3 versions with the top-end version featuring air-conditioning, Power Steering, dual-colour beige-gray trim and fabric seats.

DESIGNED HIGHER PAYLOAD 1.25 TONNES

VECV's GREATER FOCUS NOW ON HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS

Though there are several players in the Indian Commercial vehicle market vying to step up their sales in a highly competitive enviroment, VE Commercial Vehicle Ltd. VECV a joint venture between the V olvo Group and Eicher Motors, has its special reputation among customers.

In the 5T to 12T category, the company has an attractive market share of 30%, and with in the 9T to 12 T category it has whopping 40% market share. The company has now its focus on heavy duty trucks with an idea to expand market share. Currently it produces around 600 heavy duty trucks per month and has set a goal of taking it to a level of 1,000 Units per month. Its investment in design ,development,manufacturing systmes, distribution and services are largely oriented towards creating a stronger position in the heavy duty market.

The first 6months calender year (Jan-Jun), it has achieved a 27% growth and hopes to retain the growth rate during the second half, if not more. Last year, VECE sold 39,000 Eicher trucks and buses and 1,000 Volvo Trucks with turnover of Rs.4,000 Crores 

India: AMW shelves plans to enter local LCV segment

Indian commercial vehicle and components manufacturer Asia MotorWorks (AMW) has put on hold its plans to enter the country's light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment. This decision has been attributed to a slowdown in the Indian automotive market following a series of interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
AMW had intended to enter this segment with its 1.5-tonne Pug LCV. The company has decided to continue focussing on the medium and heavy CV (M&HCV) segment, as well as its entry into the bus segment.
"We have put our entry into the LCV segment on hold at present, even though we are going ahead with our plans to launch buses," A Ramasubramanian, president of Asia MotorWorks, told the Financial Chronicle.
The LCV market in India has been witnessing strong growth. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), in the first four months of the current financial year (April-July 2011), domestic sales of LCVs rose by 25.6% year-on-year. Comparatively, the M&HCV segment posted a growth rate of 6.4%.
Beyond this inviting growth rate, however, OEMs such as Force Motors and Piaggio have reportedly had difficulties in securing significant market share, in a segment dominated by Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra.
AMW's entry into the bus segment too will pitch the company against giants such as Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, which dominate the mass-market bus segments, and Volvo Buses which leads the high-end multi-axle segment. According to the Financial Chronicle, the winding down of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme has resulted in the domestic bus market slowing down considerably (+2.9% y-o-y in