Ashok Leyland bets on quick bounceback in H2

Mumbai: India’s second largest truck maker Ashok Leyland is betting on a swift bounceback in demand from the second half of FY22 and it feels any impact of a third wave of the pandemic may not be significant.

Having seen over eight consecutive quarters of industry-wide decline, the Chennai-based truck maker is confident that the worst is over, and as economic activity gathers pace, there will be a significant uptick in the demand for commercial vehicles.

Reviewing the Q1 earnings, Gopal Mahadevan, CFO, Ashok Leyland told media persons on Friday morning that the country has managed well after the impact of the second wave and that the impact of the third wave may “not be significant.”


“We have been able to manage it (the pandemic) as a country. This industry has also seen eight quarters of degrowth, if we are forecasting that the domestic economy is going to grow, we should see a sharp turnaround in demand, if things were to improve on the Covid front,” added Madhavan.

Ashok Leyland slipped into the red in the April-June first quarter on lower operating leverage due to the loss of volumes on account of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and high input costs.

The company reported a standalone loss of Rs 282 crore in the quarter and net revenues of Rs 2,951 crore in Q1.