Leading commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland is planning to invest more in the electric vehicles sector and newer fuel technologies. In an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18 chief technology officer N Saravanan said that in the next six to eight months, the company would launch electric vehicles in sub-two tonne and less than three and a half tonne segments.

Earlier in August, the flagship company of the Hinduja group said that the company was working to ensure its whole range of products are available in alternate fuels, including CNG, LNG, hydrogen and electric, by a switch in the next six months.

Adding to that, Saravanan said that the company was working on multiple fuel technologies, including hydrogen fuel and hydrogen fuel cells.

Although CNG sales have been down for Ashok Leyland due to the pricing challenges, the management expects growth momentum to continue, particularly in the heavy-duty trucks, haulage and tipper segment. With that, Ashok Leyland is working on a whole new set of vehicles in the CNG range to be launched ready when the market bounces back.

Saravanan further added that the commercial vehicle manufacturer is also planning to launch concepts and pilots of higher tonnage vehicles in the electric vehicle sector and alternate fuels in the next 12 months. Ashok Leyland also expects to get orders for LNG vehicles in the next few decades.

Ashok Leyland's sales report for August mentioned that the company reported a 58 percent jump in its domestic sales to 13,301 units in August 2022 up from 8,400 units sold in the corresponding period last year.

The company said that larger fleet operators have been adding new vehicles to replace the older ones, thus driving replacement demand for CVs. The bus segment also is seeing strong demand tailwinds. There has been a shift from ICVs to the higher tonnage CVs. Also, demand for CNG CVs has shifted to the diesel variants as the price differential between CNG, and Diesel CVs has narrowed, as reported by news agency PTI.

Courtesy:CNBC TV18