Ashok Leyland Becomes First CV Manufacturer With BS-VI Certification For Its Heavy Trucks Range

The Indian market is moving towards the deadline for the implementation of Bharat Stage 6 emissions norms, which is equivalent to EURO-VI. In order to make the jump from BS-IV to BS-VI, all automobile manufacturers are implementing changes in their product portfolios and are redesigning certain components of their vehicles.

In some cases, companies are dumping older engines and developing new ones. Ashok Leyland, it seems has been way ahead of the rest when it comes implementation of stricter emissions regulations.

BS-VI norms come into play on 01 April 2019, and Ashok Leyland is seven months early to the party. Ashok Leyland is one of the most-popular commercial vehicle manufacturers in the world. The Chennai-based company is the tenth largest manufacturer of trucks and fourth largest manufacturer of buses in the world.

In India, it is the second-largest commercial vehicle manufacturer. Ashok Leyland already had the BS-VI engine technologies in place. Ashok Leyland had displayed its BS-VI compatible truck at the 2016 Indian Auto Expo.

Now, it has announced that all heavy commercial vehicles are BS-VI compatible. This includes all trucks with GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) of 16.2 Tonnes and above.

Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman, Ashok Leyland, said, "Despite the short transition timeframe from BS IV to BS VI, we have done extensive testing and with a further 7 months to go, we are confident that our indigenous development will provide a superior and competitive solution addressing the needs of our customers. We are deeply committed to indigenous research and development addressing market needs with a relevant and customized approach."

Ashok Leyland has further stated that its range of LCVs (Light Commercial Vehicles) and ICVs (Intermediate Commercial vehicles) will soon be made BS-VI compliant.

Thoughts On Ashok leyland Becoming First CV Manufacturer With BS-VI Certification

The automotive industry in India is currently facing a slowdown and it is all but obvious that the commercial vehicle industry too is affected by it. Ashok Leyland too has been affected and the company has posted a drop of 50 percent for LCVs and 63 percent for Medium and Heavy CVs for the month of August 2019, compared to August 2018.

Despite this, the company seems positive about the recovery of the market and the increase in sales. Hence, the development of BS-VI vehicles did not stop and Ashok leyland has this achievement in its bag.