Informist, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025

By Anand JC and Gopika Balasubramanium

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI – Ashok Leyland Ltd. plans to step up its exports to countries part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as they hold huge potential for the products offered by the commercial vehicle maker, its management told reporters in a press conference on Thursday. "We think that ASEAN is a market which presents a huge potential for the kind of products we have. And, therefore, we are looking at ASEAN very, very seriously," a top executive of the company said.

The company has already done some business in that region, as it had appointed a dealer in the Philippines a couple of years ago. "Last month, this dealer had already started assembling our products in the Philippines. Yes. So I think we are moving in the right direction," Shenu Agarwal, managing director and chief executive officer of Ashok Leyland, said.

The company is looking for more partners in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, which are big markets for commercial vehicles, Agarwal said. The company does not plan to enter Latin America right now, and Agarwal said the company has a very clear idea of the markets it plans to enter going forward.

"You will get to see many more launches during the coming months, covering high-horsepower vehicles, multi-fueled powertrain options, and products customised for export markets," Agarwal said.

Ashok Leyland disclosed its June quarter earnings earlier during the day. It reported a net profit of INR 5.94 billion on revenues of INR 87.25 billion. The company's electric vehicle subsidiary Switch Mobility achieved break-even at the profit-before-tax level during the reporting quarter.

Switch Mobility has a strong order book currently and the company is in talks for more orders of around 1,000-1,200 vehicles. "We will be bidding for the new tenders in September," said Ashok Leyland's executive chairman Dheeraj Hinduja. "Switch is also showing good financial returns now. The Lucknow, UP (Uttar Pradesh) plant, we are hoping to open it later this year, prior to December," Hinduja said.

Switch Mobility, which makes electric buses, has not been affected by the shortage of rare earth magnets so far, Hinduja said. In the alternative fuel segment, Ashok Leyland is preparing to launch multiple vehicles fuelled by liquefied natural gas in the second half of FY26, it said.

Ashok Leyland expects its defence business to post double-digit revenue growth in 2025-26 (Apr-Mar). "Our defence order book and tender pipeline is stronger than ever," Hinduja said. Its defence business currently has orders of over INR 10 billion, and the company is currently awaiting INR 20 billion worth of orders for which tenders have been issued.

Ashok Leyland sold 19,915 medium-heavy trucks in the June quarter, up from 19,477 units in the year-ago quarter. The company increased its market share in the segment to 30.7% from 28.9% in the year-ago quarter, even as the industry saw a contraction in sales. It expects the medium-heavy commercial vehicle segment to grow in mid- to high-single-digit in FY26. Further, it expects uncertainty in commodity prices, especially in steel, to settle down in the coming quarters.

The commercial vehicle maker's management does not expect any impact due to tariffs imposed on India by the US. "Fortunately, we don't have any impact as a result of these tariffs because we are not exporting to the US," Hinduja said. He expects the company to register its highest sales in export markets this year.

Thursday, shares of Ashok Leyland closed 1.9% higher on the National Stock Exchange at INR 121.96. End

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

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