Ashok Leyland To Scale Down Operations At Plants This Month Due To COVID-19 Surge

Commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland will scale down operations at its plants for 7 to 15 days this month. It will shut down the units for the remaining part of the month due to rising COVID-19 cases. The automaker officially announced the same through a regulatory filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Ashok Leyland became the sixth automobile manufacturer to announce plant shutdowns amid the COVID-19 surge. Other manufacturers that had announced shut down at plants include Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, Maruti Suzuki India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and MG Motor. The company also mentioned that it will continue to respond to the Covid situation in the country.

Also Read: Ashok Leyland To Provide 24x7 Support To All Commercial Vehicles Carrying Oxygen, Essential Items​

Ashok Leyland plans to scale down operations at its plants due to rising COVID-19 cases

In an official statement issued to BSE, the company said, "Ashok Leyland is committed to the wellbeing of our personnel, their families and the extended eco system, including customers, dealers and suppliers. With 'Health & Safety First' as the focus, our 'Emergency Response Team', a high-level task force responsible for managing Covid related protocols has revisited all the standard operating procedures and is ensuring the implementation of the same. Vaccination of employees and families is being monitored and enabled through vaccination camps across all facilities."

The company further said, "The demand outlook for all our products is expected to be affected temporarily. We have carefully studied the demand situation and efforts are being made to match the demand on the one hand, while being cognizant of the disruptions in the supply situation."

Ashok Leyland plants will remain operational for only 7-15 days this month

The company said it will continue to meet the requirement of Defence vehicles and also ensure support of essential parts and aggregates for fleet, enabling movement of essential goods and services including a 24-hour helpline to ensure high uptime of the vehicles already on road.

Also Read: CV Sales April 2021: Ashok Leyland Registers MoM Sales Drop Of 51%​

Ashok Leyland's cumulative sales (Domestic + Exports) in April 2021 stood at 8,340 units. Compared to the 17,231 commercial vehicles sold in March 2021, the company saw an M-o-M de-growth of 51.5 per cent. The steep fall in the monthly sales over March 2021 can be attributed to the lockdown restrictions imposed in several states across the country.