Hinduja group's aggressive auto plans

Chennai: The Hinduja group has aggressive plans for its automobile (Ashok Leyland Limited) and auto component (Ennore Foundries Limited) business. The group is looking for acquisitions within and outside India.

According to GP Hinduja, the group's vice chairman, Ennore Foundries is setting up a greenfield project of 50,000 tonne annual capacity, built to global standards.

Emphasizing the support of the Hinduja Group to Ashok Leyland's plans, he said, "We will wholeheartedly support Ashok Leyland's efforts to further strengthen R&D efforts towards technological excellence and global competitiveness." The group plans to achieve this through a combination of in-house development efforts and mergers and acquisitions. The recent acquisition of the AVIA truck business in Prague was a step in that direction and some more are on the anvil. Ashok Leyland will pursue partnerships / alliances with global OEMs to realise its ambitious business objectives.

According to Ashok Leyland's vice chairman Dheeraj Hinduja, the company's global ambitions go beyond vehicle manufacturing and marketing. "The Company has the expertise and talent pool to be a significant global presence in the components business and in engineering design services which, together should add up to significant revenue for the company in the coming years."

Meanwhile the group has bought out IVECO's stake in LRLIH Limited, UK, to become 100 per cent owner of the British company. LRLIH holds a 51 per cent shareholding in Ashok Leyland and 59 per cent in Ennore Foundries.