Ashok Leyland unveils latest light truck

Lanka Ashok Leyland unveils their newest offering, the Dost, a 2.5 tonne GVW light truck targeting smaller payload requirements. The market leaders in the heavy vehicle segment look set to enter the light commercial vehicle segment with the Dost placing the product on the luxury end of the competitive Light Commercial Vehicle market. The Dost is the first product of the joint venture between Ashok Leyland and Nissan Motors Japan set up for the purpose of developing a technologically superior product to enter and compete into the Light Commercial Vehicle Segment.

Encompassing the best of Japanese technology and Indian ingenuity the Dost, with a gross vehicle weight of 2.5 tonnes, boasts a state of the art higher capacity fuel efficient Euro 3 engine, making it one of the strongest products in the LCV segment. In addition, the vehicle is geared to be a comfortable and an easy drive with bucket seats, air conditioning, power steering and other benefits to improve the driving experience.

Commenting on their entry into this new segment, Gautam, CEO of Lanka Ashok Leyland said “Lanka Ashok Leyland has a commanding leadership in the heavy vehicle segment and the LCV market was the obvious next market to venture into. Leveraging on the strength of our brand in Sri Lanka and driven by a demand in this segment we have taken the strategic decision to enter with the Dost. There is a very different dynamic in the LCV market. The heavy commercial vehicle segment is driven by fewer larger market participants with the financial muscle or industrial size to afford and require vehicles of much higher capacity.

The LCV segment will be a lot more competitive with many more buyers in the market from large to small entrepreneurs and new business owners. The LCV segment will also tap into a segment that relies on smaller payloads, to and from areas previously inaccessible by larger vehicles such as more rural economies. As it stands the LCV market in Sri Lanka is very competitive and is overcrowded with products meeting only the basic requirements with lower capacity engines, manual steering and non-A/C cabins.