Commercial-vehicle maker Ashok Leyland on Monday said it anticipates an increase in demand for its buses and trucks in the coming quarters.

The company also expects to sell more products in January as compared with December.

Ashok Leyland had sold 3,890 units of medium and heavy commercial vehicles in December against 2,715 units in November.

“December was better than November and January is looking better than December, so hopefully, we have overcome the bottom. Typically, the fourth quarter is the best part of the year for the commercial vehicles industry,” said Vinod K. Dasari, Managing Director, speaking to Business Line on the sidelines of a launch here. He said the company has cut costs, lowering the number of executives by 10 per cent through a voluntary retirement scheme, reducing working capital by around Rs 800 crore and cutting shifts in plants to one from two earlier.

The company has a total capacity of 10,000 units a month across its plants but is making only around 3,000 units in a single shift. However, it will increase this to around 5,000 units a month and have two shifts in some plants, said Dasari.

He expressed hope that whichever Government came to power after the elections would drive the economy.

“It (better sales) is going to come back. Our industry is driven by three things — gross domestic product, infrastructure and mining — and all three have been hit at the same time. The Government had tried to give a fillip with the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, but that’s been delayed,” he said.

Orders expected But, since the tender is out now, orders are expected to come in soon, Dasari added.

However, the impact (on sales) would be visible only from the next fiscal year, perhaps from the first quarter, he said. “Last time also, we had a 50 per cent share (of 10,000 units). This time around, we hope to get a similar share,” said Dasari.

On Monday, the company launched its ‘Captain’ series of next-generation heavy trucks, ranging between 16 tonnes and 49 tonnes. The trucks have been priced in the Rs 22 lakh-Rs 35 lakh range, depending on horsepower and tonnage.

Ashok Leyland will roll out 18 models in this series in calendar year 2014. The trucks are being manufactured at its Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) plant, he said.

The company’s shares closed at Rs 18.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday, down 1.32 per cent from the previous close.

> ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in

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