Ashok Leyland has commercially launched its Boss truck in the Intermediary Commercial Vehicle (ICV) segment. Manufactured at the state-of-the-art plant Pantnagar in Uttarakhand, the Boss is available in LX and LE variants that will be positioned in the 9.6T, 11.9T and 12.9T GVW segment.
“Five years ago we had a market share of four per cent in the ICV segment and currently, it stands at 11 per cent,” said Vinod Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland. In order to have further growth in this segment, the company would be launching two more trucks in the Boss range, an 8-tonne and a 14.5-tonne model, in the next three months.
“In the last five years this segment was growing at 22 per cent and today, ICV segment is the second largest segment in the overall commercial vehicle segment. The ICV segment in 2008-09 stood at around 28,000 units per annum but in 2012-13, this has doubled to 57,000 vehicles per annum. As soon as we launch our Boss in other areas, I am looking for more volumes that will help us and shore up some of the reduction in heavy trucks,” Mr Dasari added.
Since the Boss is essentially an Avia Truck, the company has made substantial modification in the vehicle to suit Indian conditions. Majorly, it has changed the suspensions, frames, axles, and few changes in the cabin too. It has also developed a new front axle for best-in-class turning circle diameter of 15.3 metres, which is less by 1.5 metres than the competition.
Mr Dasari claims that the Boss looks like an Avia but one that is fully localised and has zero per cent import content. The vehicle is designed to serve LHD and RHD markets, so this will replace the Avia cab and the company will export it as Boss or Avia beginning with the Middle-East. There are also plans to export only the cab and chassis to the Avia plant in Prague, where a suitable drivetrain and engine will be fitted before offering it to customers in Europe.
The LE variant is fitted with a 120 HP H-series BS3 engine with an in-line fuel injection pump, coupled to a six speed overdrive gearbox. The LX variant comes with the Leymatic AMT (Automatic Manual Transmission), which has a flat CRS torque curve will give an additional 5-7 per cent higher kmpl compared to the LX variant. Both variants are powered by a 3.8-litre 4-cylinder CRDI diesel engine with, producing 130 HP @ 2,500 rpm and 450 Nm @ 1,500 rpm. The company has a dedicated line for manufacturing Boss in its Pantnagar facility that can produce 100 trucks a day.
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