Dheeraj Hinduja is kind of sanguine concerning the prospects of bus and vans maker Ashok Leyland’s foray into electrical autos. “We hope to see our double-decker electrical buses on the roads of Mumbai subsequent month or so,” says Hinduja, Government Chairman of Ashok Leyland & Change Mobility, the electrical automobile arm of the Hinduja group.
Although Ashok Leyland Ltd’s (ALL) core enterprise — manufacture and sale of diesel-fueled freight vans and passenger buses — is inherently cyclical in nature, with the trade volumes strongly linked to the extent of financial exercise, industrial development and infrastructure investments, the second largest participant within the medium and heavy business automobile market (M&HCV) in India, has some historical past of defying odds and rising to the event – be it regulatory, technological or market challenges/adjustments.
As public transportation is ripe for electrification, with a significant focus being on the bus fleet within the nation, Ashok Leyland responded to the disruption by rapidly carving out a separate firm, Change Mobility, shaped by combining the electrical business automobile operations of Leyland and the group’s UK bus agency, Optare. Now, Change is without doubt one of the key gamers within the electrical bus market in India.
“Change Mobility is rising its gross sales pipeline rapidly in India and delivering a aggressive product vary. Our goal is to develop Change as a worldwide electrical automobile firm,” mentioned Hinduja in a latest interplay. Now, the Hindujas are scouting for traders and an infusion of capital for Change because it has envisaged capex/opex of about $350 million over the medium time period, to be funded by a mixture of debt and fairness.
Whereas its EV journey is powering alongside, ALL has been making super progress in its conventional enterprise within the post-Covid interval.
Pandemic and extra challenges
The CV market, the M&HCV phase particularly, has been recording sturdy development over the previous few quarters. This can be a much-awaited restoration although the market is but to succeed in its earlier peak. The pandemic crippled the demand state of affairs additional within the CV market, which was already reeling underneath the influence of axle load norms and different challenges.
Even because the restoration continued, Ashok Leyland had its personal challenges. The corporate witnessed many top-level exits, which included the resignations of its MD and LCV and M&HCV heads. Dheeraj Hinduja took over the mantle because the Government Chairman to steer the corporate after the resignation of Vipin Sondhi, the MD, in November 2021.
Regardless of top-level exits and the absence of a CEO, Ashok Leyland’s development path was not impacted. Because the CV market confirmed steady enhancements, the Hinduja flagship has been the key beneficiary of a revival within the M&HCV phase.
For instance, the September 2022 quarter proved to be a document one for the corporate because it not solely registered a whopping development throughout vans and buses but additionally improved its market share considerably. Its market share was 32.2 per cent within the M&HCV phase in Q2 of this fiscal. For the third quarter in a row, it maintained a market share of 30 per cent plus. The expansion has been spurred by an expanded product vary (like CNG variants), higher acceptance of the AVTR vary (modular truck platform) and revamping the dealership community.
Within the year-ago quarter, the corporate’s market share was 22.2 per cent because it had an enormous setback as a result of absence of CNG fashions within the ICV (Intermediate business automobile) phase, which noticed a shift from diesel-powered vans to CNG autos resulting from a steep improve in diesel worth. With no CNG fashions in its portfolio, AL suffered and misplaced market share.
Nevertheless it began rolling out new CNG fashions from March 2022 quarter and since then it has been gaining share. In the meantime, the ICV market noticed a reversal in development resulting from a rise within the costs of CNG. However, it plans to introduce extra CNG fashions to be future-ready because it doesn’t wish to get caught in a state of affairs just like the final 12 months. Whereas it has reported sturdy development in buses too, development in LCVs has been constrained by the persevering with scarcity of chips.
Development throughout
The corporate has seen development in all areas, not simply in its bread-and-butter southern area. “Additionally, the large information for us is the sturdy acceptance of our AVTR vans. Clients are very pleased and these vans performed an important position in getting us to this degree,” acknowledged Gopal Mahadevan, Director and CFO, ALL.
Regardless of intense competitors after the entry of world gamers, ALL managed to guard its turf and stay a powerful quantity two within the M&HCV market (after Tata Motors). Presently, the Indian M&HCV market is dominated by 4 gamers – Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, VE Industrial Automobiles, and Daimler India Industrial Automobiles and the market is unlikely to see any new gamers within the close to time period.
“Present gamers are nicely entrenched within the home CV market and are anticipated to stay so. The M&HCV phase is much more concentrated than the LCV phase. Sizeable investments are required to arrange capacities, and break-even in operations takes important time. Therefore, no main new entrants are anticipated within the home CV market,” says Anuj Sethi, Senior Director, Crisil.
Nevertheless, the panorama might change with an impending disruption by EVs and different different fuels.
“Within the mid-long time period, there will likely be a paradigm shift in conventional enterprise fashions with the entry of mass mobility firms. At the moment CV producers promote vans/buses to fleet gamers or State governments. However huge mass mobility firms will emerge. Shoppers will rent the service quite than proudly owning the the bus/truck asset. Lengthy-term contracts of 10 years will likely be signed with these gamers which is able to create a win-win equation for each. That is already witnessed within the electrical bus phase the place State governments have a use and pay mannequin,” says Puneet Gupta, Director, of S&P International Mobility.
Nevertheless, trade analysts are of the view that Ashok Leyland seems to be on a greater wicket now with its twin focus – modernising the diesel truck portfolio with the newest applied sciences whereas making good progress within the EV phase.
Recent experience is in
Change Mobility has Mahesh Babu, an EV phase veteran with a number of years of expertise, as a CEO to information the corporate and develop within the EV area, whereas Ashok Leyland lately roped in Ganesh Mani, who was Director – Manufacturing in Hyundai Motor India and has greater than three many years of expertise in manufacturing and technique.
Because it has grow to be crucial for producers in industries reminiscent of automotive and electronics to leverage Trade 4.0, firms have to scale up their applied sciences throughout websites and worth chains, Mani’s expertise will turn out to be useful for reworking ALL and handle the disruptions of in the present day in addition to sooner or later.
In the meantime, for the primary time, ALL has been working with out an MD or CEO for greater than a 12 months because the seek for an acceptable individual remains to be on.
Whereas it isn’t seen as a minus, a CEO with international publicity will likely be of nice benefit and can assist maintain the current development momentum as know-how is altering so quick and a lot is going on round telematics, autonomous, and linked applied sciences. Additionally, ALL is spreading its wings to many geographies and has set out a imaginative and prescient to be one of many high ten CV makers on the planet.
There’s a normal buzz available in the market as to which information will come first – a brand new strategic investor for Change Mobility or an MD & CEO for Ashok Leyland. Most likely, we can have solutions to each in 2023!
Printed on November 20, 2022
