Review: Ashok Leyland Stile

You associate a company like Ashok Leyland to Trucks, defence vehicles and heavy loaders, but the Indian CV manufacturer set its eyes on a very challenging and competitive segment and brought out its first passenger car in India - the Stile.

The looks don't speak much about the Stile because they are borrowed as it is from the Nissan Evalia. But it's got a longer grille, restyled bumpers and prominent double-barrel headlamps which gives it a new look.

Ashok Leyland offers 15-inch alloy wheels as an option on the mid-level and top-end variant just to give their customers an option to make it look better, if not good. The Inside of the Stile is similar to that of the Evalia. It is only the top-end variant that gets fabric seats and chrome finish on the inside. However, Ashok Leyland strikes off a music system, reversing camera and even safety features like ABS and EBD, not to forget air bags, from the feature list.

The Stile gets Renault's 1.5-litre K9K diesel engine which churns out 85bhp. Ashok Leyland says that the ECU of the Stile has been remapped and 11bhp has been lost to help it attain optimum fuel efficiency. Ashok Leyland targets the Stile at fleet operators and says that it's a people carrier. With the top-end model priced at Rs 9.5 lakhs, the Stile is a reasonable buy and an ideal car for big families who love to spend time together.