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About Us | Ashok Leyland¿s U-Trucks take off with innovative service care packages 10 models roll out as sales [02-FEB-11] The Hinduja Group flagship, Ashok Leyland, today announced sale of vehicles on the new U-Truck platform with the rolling out of the first set of 10 models of tippers and tractor trailers in the 16 – 49-tonne segment. Starting with Chennai, the vehicles will be available for sale pan-India in a phased manner over the next 6 weeks. Further, another 15 models are set to enter the market in the next 12 months. The U-Truck platform is backed by innovative service care packages, a number of which are industry ‘firsts’. Synchronized service intervals for tractors at every 40,000 kms, being offered for the first time in the commercial vehicle industry, enables the U-Truck to stay around 20% more time on the roads, the ideal way to derive the best from the vehicles. Setting a benchmark is the 4-year driveline warranty being offered on tractors whereas the warranty on tippers is for 2 years/5,000 hours/200,000 kms. Yet another unique offering is ALLCOVER Insurance, which if opted for, covers customers for cashless repair against accidents under which minor restorations are carried out in 3 days and major ones in 7 days. The Company’s increased focus on customer centricity is reflected in the huge success of the Tatkaal scheme that promises attention to distress calls within 4 hours and restoration within 48, with assured response time for breakdowns on the Golden Quadrilateral. The Tatkaal promise is now also being extended to cover the North-South and East-West corridors. The U-Truck platform comes with the definitive promise of a holistically superior product, superior driving and superior service experience,” said Mr. R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland. “More significantly, this future-ready platform has the unique ability to continuously morph itself to meet ever-evolving consumer needs. After all, the ‘U’ in the ‘U-Truck’ stands for the customer and the platform is a sublimation of our insightful understanding of customers’ needs and their pain points. Hence, we have gone to great lengths to have a product with excellent fuel efficiency, superior driveability and higher reliability all leading to better operating economics” he explained. The commercial vehicle driver community has for long been a neglected one and we are taking a number of significant steps to play a meaningful role in their lives not only through driver training but by introducing features that enhance driver comfort and safety,” said Mr. Vinod K. Dasari, Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ashok Leyland. Some of these features are superior suspended long-haul sleeper cabs in tractors and day cabs in tippers having sleeper provision, better NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) characteristics, optional air-conditioning and music systems. Ride quality is further enhanced from a choice of parabolic front suspensions with longer span and up-rated multi-leaf front suspensions. Safety is taken care of through high performance braking systems with larger sized brakes, ABS and exhaust brakes in select models. As part of this comprehensive driver care programme, every driver of a U-Truck will be given a ‘Driver kit’ worth Rs. 15,000 to meet some of his requirements when on the road. The kit will include a mobile phone with a lifetime incoming connection, a blanket, a windcheater, two T-shirts, a torch and a document holder. Further, every U-Truck driver is covered by an insurance of Rs. 1 lakh against accidents and injuries. | |
Ashok Leyland Defence and KMW sign MoU on strategic partnership To jointly develop advanced Defence [22-FEB-11] Ashok Leyland Defence Systems Ltd. and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG, Munich, Germany, have concluded a Memorandum of Understanding during the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) at Abu Dhabi today to co-operate in the development of advanced Defence systems for the Indian Defence establishment as well as other Defence forces worldwide. The scope of the co-operation will initially include the development of armoured wheeled vehicles, recovery vehicles, artillery and combat systems, bridge laying systems and other similar products. Ashok Leyland Defence Systems (ALDS), a newly formed Company in which the Hinduja flagship, Ashok Leyland, has 26% equity, brings to this strategic alliance the expertise and experience of designing and developing Defence vehicles that has made Ashok Leyland the largest supplier of logistics vehicles to the Indian Army with over 60,000 of its Stallion vehicles forming the Army’s veritable logistics backbone. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) will provide the technology and the technical assistance that will be required for the development of these Defence systems. A 170-year-old company, KMW leads the market for highly protected armoured wheeled and tracked vehicles. The armed forces of over 30 nations worldwide rely on their systems such as the MBT LEOPARD 2, the artillery system PzH 2000 or the highly protected DINGO 2. | |
Ashok Leyland expands operations in Punjab and HP Inaugurates four dealership outlets; including the [09-MAR-11] Ashok Leyland, the flagship of the Hinduja Group, significantly expanded their operations in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh with the inauguration of four dealership outlets – CM Automobiles (Mohali), TR Enterprises (Hoshiarpur), Grover Motors (Moga) and CM Associates (Kangra, Himachal Pradesh). With this, the Company now has eight dealership outlets in Punjab along with 126 Service Bays and six dealership outlets in HP. The Mohali dealership outlet also marks the Company’s 350th customer touch point across the country. These represent significant steps by Ashok Leyland towards the development of the Punjab and HP markets with customers now assured of after sales support across the length and breadth of both these states. Speaking at the inauguration of the Mohali dealership outlet, Mr. R. N. Rao, Special Director – Sales & Marketing, Ashok Leyland, said, “Punjab and HP have been focus markets for us which must be evident in this marked expansion of our network in these markets. Over the years, we have striven to understand the specific requirements of customers in this region and provide vehicles that are best suited for them which is reflected in the 5.5% growth in our volumes in Punjab particularly. With these initiatives, we hope to substantially enhance our service levels,” he added. Another measure of our service levels is the TatkaAL promise of reaching a customer within 4 hours anywhere on the Golden Quadrilateral or on the North-South, East-West corridors with restoration in 48 hours and in case of any delay, we are ready to pay a penalty of Rs. 1,000 per day, elaborated Mr. Rao. The Company has trained and developed over 16,000 mechanics and nearly 5,400 retailers across the country. During all the four inauguration events, the Company displayed their new product range and Mr. Rao handed over keys to customers. Speaking specifically about the Punjab market with its large agrarian base, Mr. Rao explained that it was essentially a haulage market for which Ashok Leyland had winner products in the 4x2 and 6x2 segments fitted with the fuel efficient ‘H’ series engines that were BSIII compliant. These models are also offered with inline Fuel Injection Pumps (FIPs) that have inherent mechanic-friendly features resulting in low operating costs. With the ramping up of the world-class manufacturing facility at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, the Company is better placed to promptly and adequately meet the demands from these markets. Apart from the TatkaAL promise, Ashok Leyland’s comprehensive Driver Care Programme is going a long way in improving the lot of commercial vehicle drivers in the country and thereby addressing the growing industry concern of a dearth of good, trained drivers. The Company is the first auto major to have two driver training institutes at Namakkal (Tamil Nadu) and Burari (near Delhi) with three more on the anvil at Khaital (Haryana), Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh) and Jaipur (Rajasthan). | |
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