Ashok Leyland Pins Hopes On Festive Season, Lower Freight Rates For Better Sales
Ashok Leyland hopes to gain from festive season and lower freight rates.
Ashok Leyland Ltd. is hopeful that the next couple of quarters would augur well for its medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment, Chief Financial Officer Gopal Mahadevan told BloombergQuint in an interview.
Sales for August and September sales have been promising and the automaker is expecting a spike in demand guided by the festive season, lower freight rates, improved efficiency brought in by the Goods and Services Tax regime, he said.
Safety apart, the government’s crackdown on overloading through implementation of e-way bill from October is another positive for the industry, he said. An e-way bill is an electronic document that will be required for the movement of goods in case their value is over Rs 50,000. The bill will have all the details about a consignment.
The e-way bill is likely to improve the transportation time between towns and Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan have exemplified successful implementation on overloading restrictions.Gopal Mahadeva, CFO, Ashok Leyland
On the strain on the margins due to higher commodity costs, Mahadevan said it is a challenge for Ashok Leyland too. The company is working on ways to curtail rising costs, he said.
With the government’s push for electric vehicles, Mahadevan said, Ashok Leyland is looking at multiple options for venturing into the segment, including joining hands with multinational players. A plan is being chalked out, he said.