Ashok Leyland eyes over Rs 1,000 crore revenue from after-market biz

Commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland is looking at after-market business to boost its revenues and expects the segment to contribute over Rs 1,000 crore to its topline in the next three years.

In line with this vision, the company on Thursday announced launching digital initiatives which will help the vehicle owners to keep better control of their fleet.

The Chennai-based company through its digital channels will enlist the mechanics and certify them, apart from selling the spare parts online. It will also help the customers track their vehicles and help them get vital info on the vehicle's health.

"These digital solutions are an integral part of our growth and have the potential to overhaul our commercial vehicle ecosystem," said managing director Vinod Dasari.

Ashok Leyland aims to derive one-third of its revenues from the aftermarket business, and these initiatives will help the company in attaining that goal, stated Dasari.

"We estimate that these initiatives have the potential of generating Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years," he added.

Also, as per the reports, the company has been scouting for a battery maker as per of its efforts to get into the electric vehicle (EV) space, which is expected to get larger in the coming years. The company has budgeted around Rs 120 crore for the project.

In fact, the plan to get into EV segment comes in the backdrop of government's push on the segment in a big way, which expects around 5 million of EVs to be sold by around next 15 years.

As per a report by centre's think tank Niti Aayog, the accelerated adoption of electric and shared vehicles could save about $60 billion in diesel and petrol costs while cutting down as much as 1 gigatonne (gt) of carbon emissions for India by 2030. This would result in an annual diesel and petrol reduction of 156 million tonne of oil equivalent, making a net-fuel cost saving of approximately Rs 3.9 lakh crore.

A similar system is also available with rival commercial vehicle manufacturers in the country who want to tap the after sales and service market.

Ashok Leyland Limited