Ashok Leyland Dost Light Commercial Vehicle is a runaway success as it initiated a whole new segment of LCVs in India.
The Dost which was developed under the joint venture between Ashok Leyland and Nissan sits above the likes of Tata Ace and Mahindra Maxximo in terms of power output. The load carrier is enjoying a very strong response and in fact, it masked to a great extent the poor sales performance of Ashok Leyland in other CV categories.
Ashok Leyland incurred a drop in sales of 10% in February even while Dost posted a stellar 90% growth in the same month by clocking 3,001 units. No wonder why the AshLey-Nissan JV is laying more emphasis on developing more variants of the Dost.
Apart from a heavy duty version and a CNG variant of the Dost goods carrier, the CV specialist is also working on a passenger version. The passenger variant which is said to be in final stage of its development.
Dr. V. Sumatran, Executive Vice Chairman of Hinduja Automotive Ltd told media that the electric version of the Dost is currently being developed and would be out in a year's time.
The Ashok Leyland Dost is powered by a 1.5 litre 3 cylinder diesel engine which pumps out 55 bhp. With no real competitor in the market, the versatile goods carrier caters to wide range of applications.
[source: Business-standard.com]
