Ashok Leyland Nissan rolls out Dost light commercial vehicle
July 22nd, 2011 - 11:04 pm ICT by IANSChennai, July 22 (IANS) Indian-Japanese commercial vehicle joint venture Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles Friday rolled out its first product “Dost” from Ashok Leyland’s plant in Tamil Nadu’s Hosur.
Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles is a 51:49 joint venture between the Indian truck major and the Japanese auto firm to produce light commercial vehicles (LCV).
In a statement issued here, the company said commercial launch of Dost will be later this quarter through an exclusive dealer network.
The LCV will be available in three versions with the top-end version featuring air-conditioning, power steering, dual-colour of a beige-gray trim and fabric seats.
The joint venture unveiled the 1.25 tonne Dost in March this year.
Terming the rollout as a very important milestone for Ashok Leyland-Nissant joint venture V. Sumantran, executive vice chairman of parent company Hinduja Automotive Ltd, said: “Dost is the first physical manifestation of our association and a matter of great pride for us as this marks the fruition of a project that started effectively in 2008.”
He said the Indian small commercial vehicle customer is fast evolving and becoming increasingly demanding, apart from fuel efficiency and durability, about other attributes like driveability, power, comfort, safety, loading capacity and even styling.
“Ashok Leyland and Nissan have remained faithful to the vision of joining forces to create value for the Indian business customer. Our aim was to combine our expertise and experience to create high quality, global standard products with affordable technologies, and with relevance to today’s Indian market, said Andy Palmer, executive vice president, Nissan Motors Company and chairman of Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles.
Unveiling the model in March, Sumantran said the second product of the joint venture will be launched by Nissan from its car plant near here.
“Between 2011 and 2013 three vehicles will be launched and exports will begin in 2012. The company will produce components for other manufacturing sites,” Palmer told reporters in March.
During the first three years, Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles will be launching around 150,000 units to be split equally between the two promoters.
- Ashok Leyland-Nissan unveil 1.25-tonne goods carrier - Mar 29, 2011
- Ashok Leyland prices Dost LCV at Rs.379,000 - Sep 13, 2011
- Nissan to export 20 percent of mini-vans made in India - Jul 31, 2011
- Ashok Leyland Nissan to roll out LCVs in mid-2011 - Jun 01, 2010
- Ashok Leyland-Nissan joint venture to roll out light trucks by 2011 - Jun 02, 2010
- Ashok Leyland net in 2011-12 down by 10 percent - May 14, 2012
- Ashok Leyland may get into car manufacturing with Nissan - Mar 04, 2010
- Leyland-Deere to enter wheel-loader segment in 2013 - Nov 22, 2011
- Nitin Seth is Ashok Leyland's executive director - Dec 14, 2010
- Ashok Leyland-Nissan JV to roll out LCVs in 2011 - Apr 29, 2010
- Ashok Leyland to go slow on raising debt - Nov 11, 2010
- Ashok Leyland takes 26 percent stake in British Optare - Jul 29, 2010
- Ashok Leyland to invest Rs.2000 crore over two years - Jul 27, 2010
- Ashok Leyland, German partner to develop defence systems (Lead) - Feb 23, 2011
- Renault-Nissan in talks with Ashok Leyland for making cars - Mar 17, 2010
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