For 70 years since it started operations, Ashok Leyland has remained one of the country’s leading players in the commercial vehicle (CV) industry, especially in the truck space, and boasts of a long-standing manufacturing history. Auto Tech Review visited the company’s mother plant in Ennore, Chennai, where operations began wayback in 1948. Auto Tech Review met up with KV Natarajan, Plant Head – Ennore, Ashok Leyland Ltd, to understand the various developments that have taken place at the company’s oldest plant as well as the trends in the commercial vehicle segment in India. Natarajan also provided information on the highly-customisable product portfolio, continuous modernisation of the facility, increased utilisation of automation technologies, sustainable methods of manufacturing and the preparedness for BS VI emission norms.
ENNORE PLANT
Ashok Leyland’s Ennore plant, which is tucked away on the northern outskirts of Chennai, is the oldest of its facilities (established in 1948 in collaboration with Austin Motor Company, England) for assembly of Austin cars. It was in 1950 that the erstwhile Ashok Motors and Leyland Motors, UK, agreed to take the collaboration route to import, assemble and manufacture Leyland trucks for seven years. However, the company received government approval in 1954 for manufacturing commercial vehicles, subsequently leading to the company being renamed Ashok Leyland the following year.
The Ennore plant is not just the oldest for Ashok Leyland, but is also said to be one of the most modern one, with over 66 % of the machines under six years old. The fully-integrated plant manufactures chassis as well as important aggregates like transmission, engine and axles for international assembly facilities. The plant also houses automated test beds, tool monitoring through radio-frequency identification (RFID) and material handling systems. The facility has a total headcount of around 1,800 associates along with numerous robots for automation.
The country’s second-largest CV player manufactures a complete range of products at its Ennore facility including buses & trucks under the Intermediate Commercial Vehicles (ICV) category, as well as engines for marine and industrial purposes. Ashok Leyland produces vehicle models that range from 9-49 tonne of gross vehicle weight (GVW). At the Ennore facility, buses are divided into ICV and Medium Duty Vehicles (MDV) models ranging from 7-12 m in length. A total of 177 models are manufactured as complete vehicles.
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