The company is presently working on various projects, which include buses suited for inter-city and inter-state transport systems.
The range includes buses, which have low floors and ideally suited for transport within city limits and also the ultra luxurious high-end buses favourable for long haul trips.
Rajive Saharia, executive director - marketing, Ashok Leyland, said, "We are working on various projects at our center. We are currently evaluating introduction dates (into the market) and further upgrades to the models that are already developed for enhancement."
The initiative comes at a time when the industry sales exceeded more than half of the total sales this year in six months (19,777 units in April-September 2007) compared with the full 12 months of the last year (28,738 units in April'06-March'07).
The company is working with its manufacturing and technical design teams on various projects at its Chennai center. Furthermore, company officials said that it has reached completion stage of some of its projects and will subsequently launch it in due course.
One of most upbeat of its launches will be the 12 meter long luxury coach built to cater to the growing need for high-end buses that primarily comes from the inter-state tour operators.
"This bus will have a unique feature of its own. Its air-conditioning unit will be powered by the engine rather than a separate set up," Saharia said. The vehicle will be available in both rear and front engine formats.
The company is thus targeting the lucrative order from the Delhi Transport Corporation for about 9,000 buses and other orders from the government-backed Bus Rapid Transport System, which is spread across 63 cities.
According to Saharia, the company has seen sales of high-end buses double in the past five to six months compared with a flat to negative growth in the previous months.
During the first six months of this fiscal, Ashok Leyland recorded a jump of 131 per cent in sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicle (passenger segment) at close to 10,000 units. It commanded a market share of 50 per cent during the period, according to SIAM figures.
The Hinduja Group company has charted out expansion plans to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) to be spent over a period of three years for building capacity, developing products and upgrading technology.
The company's Ennore facility will add 50,000 vehicles per annum and by September 2009, its Uttarakhand facility is also expected to add 50,000 vehicles per annum. This will take the company's total capacity to 1,84,000 units a year over the next three years.
Speaking on its future launches, a company official said, "We have many exciting products in our portfolio, which can see a launch in India, but as everything has a timeline we are waiting for the right moment to arrive. Some of our products are very futuristic for the local market and India has to have the desired demand for the same. We will introduce such products when the time is right."
The company holds a market share of 15.77 per cent (as on October 2007) following market leader Tata Motors which has a share of 60.74 per cent in the domestic market. The company sold more than 40,300 units of medium and heavy commercial vehicle during the seven months.
The company was recently in the news when it forged a joint venture with the Japanese vehicle maker Nissan for the project involving light commercial vehicles. It will make LCV's and engines for Indian as well as export markets at the Chennai facility.
