Ashok Leyland and Nissan Motor Company grouped together and have introduced their first product – the Ashok Leyland DOST on Tuesday in India.It is the first Light Commercial Vehicle to be launched in India.It will reach the market in the second quarter of 2011-2012.It will hold the Ashok Leyland badge and will be manufactured in the Ashok Leyland’s Hosur manufacturing plant.The vehicle will be available in both BS-III and BS-IV versions.
The Executive Vice Chairman of Hinduja Automotive Ltd. and the Chairman of Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain Ltd.,Dr. V. Sumantran,revealed that,“The Indian market is rapidly evolving and customer expectations are growing. We believe that the LCV segment is ready for a substantial upgradation of products that yet offer low cost of ownership. The Ashok Leyland DOST with its carefully calibrated design and features, attempts to offer a new level of experience to the Indian customer”.He also confirmed,“Its design reflects the philosophy of both partners: blending the long traditions of quality and comfort of Nissan with the proven record of rugged reliability and fuel efficiency of Ashok Leyland”.
The payload capacity of this LCV id about 1.25 Tonnes.It powers a specially-developed, 55 hp high-torque,turbo-charged Common Rail Diesel engine.The three versions of this vehicle is a base version with manual steering, a mid version with power steering and a higher version which will have dual tone interiors, power steering and AC.
The Senior Vice-President of Nissan Motor Company and Chairman, Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles Ltd.,Dr. Andy Palmer,said,“The product blends the best in terms of Japanese engineering from Nissan, with local relevance that Ashok Leyland brings to the table. It represents a very attractive value proposition to the small and medium businesses that it is targeted at and we are confident that it will find wide acceptance when launched.”
Following this first product,the second product of this JV would be a Nissan product and the third one will be a large tonnage LCV holding Ashok Leyland badge.