1|Page

1.1 INTRODUCTION

An organizational study refers to the complete understanding of an

organization in all dimensions. Ashok Leyland is a well known automobile
manufacturing company in India. Ashok Leyland believes that its historical
success and future prospects are directly related to combination of strengths.
The referred unit is a core limb of Ashok Leyland, the nation‟s pioneering
automobile manufacturer. The study includes the brief study of the core
departments of Ashok Leyland, Chennai. Different officials working in
various departments have provided very important data in this report. Every
effort has been made to understand the functions and activities of various
departments as well as the manufacturing process. Ashok Leyland is a well
known automobile manufacturing company in India. Ashok Leyland believe
that its historical success and future prospects are directly related to
combination of strengths.

This Report is titled as a study on functional areas in Ashok Leyland and tries
tofind out the different aspects of manufacturing process in the company. The
report was held at Hosur, Unit I from 22 to 30 June 2009.Different officials
working in various departments have provided very important data in this
report. Every effort has been made to understand the functions and activities
of various departments as well as the manufacturing process.

2|Page
The subsidiary holdings are Ashley Holdings Ltd., Ashley Investment Ltd.,
and Ashok Leyland Report Services.

The chief competitors of the company are;

• Mahindra
• Volvo
• Tata Motors With a commanding strength of the about 12,000 employees
the company is looking forwards to enhance the scope of its action. It is
aiming at expanding its production operation overseas to make it a more
globally accessible company. It is looking to acquire a small to medium sized
commercial vehicle manufacturers in China and other developing nations,
which have an established product line. An example would be the2007
acquisition of the Czech based Avia‟s truck business rechristened Avia
Ashok Leyland Motors. Since its inception, Ashok Leyland has been a major
presence and these years have been punctuated by a number of technological
innovations which went to become industry standard. This tradition of
technological innovations and leadership was achieved through years of
vigorous in-house research and development. From 18 seater to 82 seater
double-decker buses, from 7.5 tonne to 49 tonne in haulage vehicles, from
numerous special application vehicles to diesel engines for industrial, marine
and genset applications, Ashok Leyland offers a wide range of products.
Ashok Leyland has been a major presence in India‟s commercial vehicle
industry since 1948, the year it was born. The origin of Ashok Leyland can
be traced to the urge for self-reliance, felt by independent India. Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister persuaded Mr. Raghunandan
Saran, an industrialist, to enter automotive manufacture. They are one of the
India‟s leading manufactures of commercial vehicles and special vehicles,

3|Page
engines for industrial purpose, gen sets and marine requirement equipments.
For over five decades, Ashok Leyland has been the technology leader in
India‟s commercial vehicle industry, molding the country‟s commercial
vehicle profile by introducing technologies and product ideas that have gone
on to become industry norms. Ashok Leyland at the time of its inception was
known as Ashok Motors. It was assembling Austin cars at the first plant, at
Ennore, near Chennai. In 1950, the company started assembly of Leyland
commercial vehicles and soon the local manufacturing under license
from British Leyland, participation in the equity capital, in 1954, the company
was re christened Ashok Leyland .Since its inception, Ashok Leyland has
been a major presence and these years have been punctuated by a number of
technological innovations which went to become industry standard. This
tradition of technological innovations and leadership was achieved through
years of vigorous in-house research and development. From 18 seater to 82
seater double-decker buses, from 7.5 tonne to 49 tonne in haulage vehicles,
from numerous special application vehicles to diesel engines for industrial,
marine and genset applications, Ashok Leyland offers a wide range
of products. Ashok Leyland has six manufacturing plants -Ennore Plant,
Chennai. Hosur Plants Unit I, Unit II and Unit II A.Alwar, Rajasthan.
Bhandara, Maharashtra.
A new plant is to be set to be launched in Uttaranchal at Pant Nagar with a
plantcapacity of 40,000 commercial vehicles. Early products of Ashok Leylan
dincluded the Leyland Comet bus chassis sold to many operators includingHy
derabad Road Transport, Ahmedabad Municipality, Travancore State
Transport, Bombay State Transport and Delhi Road Transport Authority.
In the popular metro cities, four out of five state transport undertaking buses
come from Ashok Leyland. Some of them like the Double Decker and
4|Page
Vestibule buses are unique models from Ashok Leyland, tailor made high-
density routes. Statistics reveal that the company is India‟s largest exporter of
medium and heavy duty trucks. It sells close to 83,000 medium and heavy
vehicles each year. The company has a near 98.5% market share in the
Marine Diesel engine markets in India. At 60 million passengers a day, Ashok
Leyland buses carry more people than the entire Indian Railway network.

5|Page
 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are:

• To familiarize with business organization.

• Getting practical experience regarding the organizational function.

• To learn about the policies and functions of the organization.

• To understand the culture in the organization and its effect on employees.

• To get industrial exposure and experience.

• To understand the production and marketing methods.

6|Page
 1.3 IMPORTANCE
This report provides a consolidated preview of the functional
activities of Ashok L e y l a n d , H o s u r U n i t I . T h e r e f e r r e d u n i t i s
a c o r e l i m b o f A s h o k L e y l a n d , t h e nation‟s pioneering automobile
manufacturer. The core departments, their primary functions and the
integrating activities are described in the report. Other special
regulatory functions like evaluation methods, employee benefit schemes have
also been covered. The unique features and policies of the company, which
make it a leader without contention and have aided the company in carving an
excellent niche for itself in the national and the international arena, have also
been referred.
The study is mainly based on the details collected from each
department.
It p r o v i d e s a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g a t f u n c t i o n a l l e v e l o f e a c h
d e p a r t m e n t . I t provides a better understanding at functional level
of each
department i.e.Purchase, Materials, Production, Marketing, Finance
and Human ResourceManagement. Each and every activity of the
company has been studied very carefully with the data available.
Apart from that I gained knowledge of the functioning of different
departments and their inter relationship with each other.

This study helped me familiarize with the manufacturing and assembling of

commercial vehicles

7|Page
 2.1 COMPANY PROFILE

Ashok Leyland has been a major presence in India‟s commercial vehicle

industry since 1948, the year it was born. The origin of Ashok Leyland can
be traced to the urge for self-reliance, felt by independent India. Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister persuaded Mr. Raghunandan
Saran, an industrialist, to enter automotive manufacture. They are one of
the India‟s leading manufactures of commercial vehicles and special
vehicles, engines for industrial purpose, gen sets and marine requirement
equipments. For over five decades, Ashok Leyland has been the technology
leader in India‟s commercial vehicle industry, molding the country‟s
commercial vehicle profile by introducing technologies and product ideas that
have gone on to become industry norms. Ashok Leyland at the time of its
inception was known as Ashok Motors. It was assembling Austin
cars at the first plant, at Ennore, near Chennai. In 1950, the
company started assembly of Leyland commercial vehicles and
soon the local manufacturing under license from British Leyland,
participation in the equity capital, in 1954, the company was re christened
Ashok Leyland. Since its inception, Ashok Leyland has been a
major presence and these years have been punctuated by a number of
technological innovations which went to become industry standard. This
tradition of technological innovations and leadership was achieved through
years of vigorous in-house research and development. From 18 seater to 82
seater double-decker buses, from 7.5 tonne to 49 tonne in haulage
vehicles, from numerous special application vehicles to diesel engines for

8|Page
industrial, marine and genset applications, Ashok Leyland offers a wide
range of products. Ashok Leyland has six manufacturing plants -Ennore
Plant, Chennai. Hosur Plants Unit I, Unit II and Unit II A.Alwar, Rajasthan.
Bhandara, Maharashtra.
A new plant is to be set to be launched in Uttaranchal at Pant Nagar with a
plant capacity of 40,000 commercial vehicles.
Early products of Ashok Leyland included the Leyland Comet bus chassis
Sold to many operators including Hyderabad Road Transport, Ahmedabad
Municipality, Travancore State Transport, Bombay State Transport and Delhi
Road Transport Authority. In the popular metro cities, four out of five state
transport undertaking buses come from Ashok Leyland. Some of them like
the Double Decker and Vestibule buses are unique models from Ashok
Leyland, tailor made high-density routes. Statistics reveal that the company is
India‟s largest exporter of medium and heavy duty trucks. It sells close to
83,000 medium and heavy vehicles each year. The company has a
near 98.5% market share in the Marine Diesel engine markets in
India. At 60 million passengers a day, Ashok Leyland buses carry
more people than the entire Indian Railway network.

9|Page
 2.2 DEPARTMENT FUNCTIONS

FUNCTIONS OF THE MAJOR DEPARTMENTS SELECTED

The major functional areas of the unit and the major departments which
oversee those areas are catalogued as follows:

a) HR Department
b) Finance Department
c) Marketing Department

a) HUMAN RESOURCE - DEPARTMENT OF ASHOK LEYLAND LTD.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human resource management is defined as the managing function of

employees, developing and compensating HR resulting in creation and
development of human relations with the view to contribute proportionately to
the organizational, individual and social goal.
VALUE STATEMENT
“We consider our employees as our most valuable asset and are committed
to provide full encouragement and support to them, to enhance their potential
and contribution to the company‟s business”.

10 | P a g e
FUNCTIONS OF HR DEPARTMENT:1) HR ACQUISITON
•Recruitment
•Selection
2) HR DEVELOPMENT
•Training and development
•Organization development
3) PERFORMANCE AND COMPENSATION
•Performance appraisal
•Incentives and benefits
4) MOTIVATION
•Creating motivation environment
•Empowerment and participation
•HR Mobility
1) HR ACQUISITION
RECRUITMENT
Recruitment is the process of „finding and attracting capable applicants for
employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when
11 | P a g e
their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applicants from which
new employees are selected.
SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT
The following are various external sources of recruitment:
1. Consultancies
2. Campus recruitment
3. Lateral entries

1. CONSULTANCIES
The department heads where requirements are needed informs to the HR
department about the requirement. The concerned person for recruitment gets
approval for filling
thevacancies. Then the consultancies are approached telling the requirements.
The fitapplications are mailed to attend the interview. If satisfied, they are call
ed for the personal interview.

2. CAMPUS RECRUITMENT
The recruitment panel goes to the reputed colleges to select the candidates.

On the following basis they recruit the candidates

 GETs - Graduate Engineer Trainees
 DETs - Diploma Engineer Trainees
 ITI- Industrial Training Institute
3. LATERAL ENTRIES
They pick the experience candidates or people from other companies. The
following is the process of lateral entry recruitment:1.Sourcing2.Interviewa.
Written test b. Technical round interview. Personal Interview
12 | P a g e
PROCEDURE FOR LATERAL RECRUITMENT
 Pre-Selection
 Selection
 Post-Selection

SELECTION
The selection procedure is concerned with selecting the right candidate at
right time for right place. The selection procedure saves a lot
of time and money by eliminating candidates who are not eligible for the post.
STEPS IN SELECTION
• Receiving of application
• Preparing of shortlist by the department
• Verification of resume by department head
• Interview (one round)
• Psychological test
•Reference/Background information
•Final selection
•Placement
2) HR DEVELOPMENT
 TRAINING
Training is an on-going process aimed at capability-building of the employees
at all levels. In today‟s competitive mile organizations are increasingly
turning to training to capture the cutting edge. As they manage growth in a
constantly changing environment.
Purposive training and planned retraining have an acquired priority status on t
hecorporate agenda. Centre stage in Ashok Leyland training endeavours is the

13 | P a g e
management development centre, at Chennai and Hosur. Training programme
is classified into
•Skill
•Knowledge
•Attitude
TRAINING PROCESS Of ASHOK LEYLAND LTD training programs
in Ashok Leyland are:

• Quad 1 executives
• Competencies and priority needs of departments/ units
• E-learning
• Induction for DET (2 years) GET (1 year), Laterals (7 days)
• GENMOD training program.
• General-Planning for retirement Budget spent for training (8hrs- 1day)
middle managers (3 to 4 persons) is 3-4 lakhs

WORKMEN CAPABILITY BUILDING

Training & Development for the unionized employees at the manufacturing
units is focused on skill development. Both internal and external training is
given for associates. Guest lectures of external faculty and various other
industrial visits will be arranged
for associates. In addition to some programmes like engineering drawing and
wasteelimination are also conducted.

14 | P a g e
TRAINING FOR SENIOR/ MIDDLE LEVEL MANAGEMENT
Both external and internal training is given for the executives. Faculty from
outside agencies will be arranged for training them.

15 | P a g e
They also get faculty from corporate level. Training for senior/middle level
management is done on the following basis:

1. Technical 2. Behavioral 3. Functional

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Management development plan of Ashok Leyland focuses on the following
competencies

• People leadership
• Transformational leadership
• Project management capability
• Result orientation
• Entrepreneurial perspective

HR processes such as job evaluation and competency mapping will be

dovetailed into the development plan to enhance objectivity and effectiveness.
DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
The following are the developmental activities:

 TEI – Total Employee Involvement

 CFG – Cross Functional Group
 QC – Quality Circles
 SS – Suggestion Scheme
 Re-deployment

16 | P a g e
3) PERFORMANCE AND COMPENSATION

 PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
“Performance appraisal is the systematic evaluation of the individual with
regard to his or her performance on the job and his potential for development
“In Ashok Leyland graphical scale method is followed, it is also known as
linear rating scale. In this, a printed appraisal form is used for each appraise.
The form consists of various employee characteristics and his job
performance. Various characteristics include initiative, leadership,
dependability, creative ability, analytical ability etc. The rating is done on the
basis of scale which is in continuum representing various degrees of particular
quality. Ashok Leyland use numbers say 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 to denote points for
various degrees of excellent-poor, high-low, good-bad and so on. The
appraisal form is divided into 8 parts where under each part separate sections
are being covered.
• Part I- Performance in the present job (Employees achievements, goals)
• Part II- Work behavior (Plans, objectives, activities, execution of plans)
• Part III- Abilities (Job knowledge, commitment to achieve results at work)
• Part IV- Potential ( Areas of interest, personality traits, strength, weakness)
• Part V- Overall performance rating ( Based on assessment of part I, II III)
• Part VI- Training need (To improve performance in present job, to assume

higher responsibility)

•Part VII- Development plan (Job rotation, job enlargement, special

assignment/reputation)

17 | P a g e
•Part VIII- Other comments
Five point scale of Ashok Leyland showing levels of performance:
5- Exceptional - Consistently outstanding performance.
4-Superior Performance which is consistently significant beyond job
requirements contributes in related area also.
3- Good - Performance which adequately meets job requirements and
occasionally produces good over and above requirements
2- Barely satisfactory - Just meets minimum job requirements
1- Unsatisfactory - Does not meet job requirement at all.
The appraisal form also consists of customer satisfaction survey where the
need, service provider and period of assessment are all identified.
It also follows graphical scalemethod using a five point scale based on the
criteria
1) Quality (Customer needs, service information, quality works,
complaints etc..,).
2) Delivery (Delivery time, point of use, use or parts/service information)
3) Communication (Interaction with customers, listening to customer
views, timely feedback, and review changes with the customer)
4) Responsiveness (Responding to customer complaints, changes
to customer needs)
5) Improvement (Positive attitude for improvement, implementation &
effectiveness of improvement and improvements at the customer end)
Overall Customer Rating
= 1+2+3+4+5

18 | P a g e
 EMPLOYEE RETENTION Performance linked pay
The company has an annual appraisal system in place and pursuant to this
system, performance linked pay, annual variable pay and/or commission is
paid to the employees.
Employee motivation
Ashok Leyland targets 100% of its employees to be involved in its continuous
improvement activities. Reward systems such as IMPROVE, RISE, BITES,
100% CLUB and GEMBA passport scheme motivates people to contribute
their ideas.

 INCENTIVES
1) Surcharge on Direct Booking Incentive.2)Special Incentive Scheme.
Employee welfare schemes
The following are the welfare schemes available to the employees.
• Canteen facilities
• Medical claims
• Transport facilities
• Ashok Leyland school for their children
• Scholarship schemes
• Recreation facilities

 BENEFITS1) Tuition fee refund:

Reimbursement of expenses related to course fees, examination fees
and purchase of books is allowed upto 75% of amount spent per academic
year subject to a maximum amount as given by personnel administration.
2) Major medical plan:
19 | P a g e
Benefits will be available within the laid down overall limits for self
dependants viz. reimbursement of medical expenses and interest free loan
3) Medical reimbursement:
Domiciliary expenses incurred on domiciliary medical treatment shall be
reimbursed subject to the annual limits fixed from time to time.

b) FINANCE - DEPARTMENT OF ASHOK LEYLAND LTD.

Finance is considered as the life blood of business. This is because
in the modern money-oriented economy, finance is one of the basic
foundation so fall kinds of economic activities.
Finance function may be defined as the
procurement of funds and their effective utilization.

 RESPONSIBILITIES OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT:

• The pricing department is responsible for the fixing of prices for
sales of the vehicles and for buying of raw materials and semi
finished goods.
• Treasury section is responsible for all kinds of funding
managements such as investments.
• Taxation section is responsible for remittance of tax, filing of
returns, handling of litigations etc..,
• Costing and Budgeting department is responsible for the unit
costing of each product in particular, such as spare parts and a
vehicle as whole.

20 | P a g e
• The FSG (Finance account Service Group) deals with the
Payables and receivables at regional offices.
• The Explore finance department deals with the FSG exporting of
items. The same functions and responsibilities are allotted to the
accounting and finance department of the manufacturing plants in
Ennore, Hosur-1, Hosur-2, Hosur-2A, Alwar, Bhandara, Pantnagar

 ROLE OF FINANCE:

• Recorder (accounting) of all Financial Transactions

• Reporting of Financial Performance
• Arranging long and short term funds – Capital and Debt
• Working Capital Management
• Compliance of tax and other corporate laws
• Risk Management
• Controllership function
• Audit coordination
• Investor Relations

PROCESS & ACTIVITIES OF FINANCE:

a) Financial Accounts
• Quarterly, Half-yearly and annual results published as per listing
requirements
• Limited Review / audit coordination.
• Annual Reports – Disclosures made are comprehensive; complied much
before they become mandatory

21 | P a g e
• Early completion of accounts, audit process; forefront in adherence to
accounting standards & other guidelines.
• Audit Committee – comprises of Stalwarts from the profession.
• Automation of processes
b) Financial Planning & Control
c) Treasury Management
- Raising of Funds- Funds Management- Debt Servicing- Risk Management
Financial instruments for Funds raising would depend on end use of funds;
de-risking is an important consideration in deciding the instrument.
• Capex and long-term working capital requirements are funded through share
capital and long-term debt.
• Financial Instruments used include- Long term funds: Shares, GDR, ECBs,
Debentures, term loans etc.-Short term Funds: Cash credit, Demand Loans,
Commercial paper, FCNR ,etc.
• Major funds raising in AL include GDR of US$134 Mn. in 1995 & ECB
of US$315Mn incl. US$ 200 Mn. in Dec 2007.•Level of debt (Long-term):
Rs. 2280.44 cr as on 31/3/10•Banking relationships for working capital is
managed through Consortium of banks comprising of 14 banks – Fund based
Rs.600 cr & Non-fund based Rs.750cr.•

Funds Management
Includes managing collections and outflows and surplus/deficit management.
Closer working with Marketing and Units is vital. Surplus management
includes investment in Fixed Deposits, Mutual Funds, etc., Direct investment
in equity avoided
Debt Servicing

22 | P a g e
Includes repayment of principal and payment of interest on due dates and
ensuring that commitments made are adhered to
.• Risk Management
is vital since organization is exposed to both currency as well interest rate
risks. Risks offer both threats and opportunities (can increase income or
reduce expenditure). Results depend on how well they are managed.

d) Costing & Pricing

• Strategic pricing of products, quotes for various tenders
• Special pricing for export contracts.
• Monitoring of cost of production of various models and for make or buy
decisions
• Project / capex evaluations for optimization and for making commitment
decisions
e) Taxation
• Compliance with Direct (Income Tax Act, Wealth Tax) & Indirect
Taxes (Excise, Customs, Service Tax, Sales tax etc).•Tax planning is an
important component of business decisions.
•Recent major developments include introduction of Service Tax legislation
and VAT across many States.
•Aligning the business process across the organization and maximizing the
benefits against such legislations is a major task handled by Finance.
•Regular tasks include remittance of tax, filing of returns, handling of
litigations etc.
f) Investor Relations
• In AL, Mutual Funds, FII etc hold 32% of shareholding besides public who
hold10%.
23 | P a g e
FII & Mutual Funds represent investment community who track company‟s p
erformance continuously very closely.
• Dissemination of data relating to company‟s performance and developments
very important and sensitive.
•Handled through presentations in periodic investor meet, web-cast, tele-
conferences, individual meets, address in TV etc.
•Presentations made are hosted in company‟s website

PLANNING & MANAGING CASH FLOWS:

1. Planning cash flows
Rolling Quarterly cash forecast prepared and monitored weekly seeking
explanation for variance in order to control and direct operations.

2. Management of daily funds

• Collections from 49 locations pooled under cash management system in
To centralized accounts with consortium banks at Chennai.
• Various payments reported are collated and funded for in the various
bank accounts depending on the expected debits.
• Surplus for the day, if any, invested for tenor which is based on requirement
of funds back in to the system.

•Deficit funded through short term loans from banks, availed based
on best product available / rate offered
STRATEGIC GOALS:
• Raise resources to the tune of roughly US$ 1.8 billion for funding
expansion plans of AL, Nissan and other JVs over the next 3 years

24 | P a g e
• Achieve optimum funding mix / restructuring of companies to minimize
the cost of raising of funds.
• Maximize tax efficiencies to improve cost competitiveness of products
And improve viability of projects.
• Make globalization a reality through acquisitions and setting up of new
ventures abroad by leveraging AL‟s strengths
Bench mark financial processes to the best in the world and improve the bar;
maintain high standards of financial discipline.
• Maintain excellent relations with international investor community
Through effective communication for international offerings

FINANCIAL CHALLENGES AHEAD:

• Global slowdown challenging break even.• Decrease in Margins due to
inability to pass on cost increases due to competitive pressures – partially
compensated by increase in volumes.• Profitability pressures due to changes
in business mix and commodity pricemovements.•Forex management –
unforeseen volatility in major currencies; particularly important with forex
loans •Supporting inorganic growth – evaluation & funding of emerging
options .•Need to fund major capex & investments – Rs.2400 cr in the next 3
years; major investments in JVs •Tackling financial covenant breaches
.•Increase in interest rates •Business integration of overseas units. •Managing
expectations of stakeholders.

25 | P a g e
c) MARKETING -DEPARTMENT OF ASHOK LEYLAND LTD.

Marketing is concerned with the people and the activities involved in the flow
of goods and services from the producer to the consumer.
Ashok Leyland has been offering world class products to millions of
customers to 40countries across the world. Its main product line includes
Trucks, Buses, Defense vehicles and special vehicles and engines for Indian
and Overseas market. Ashok Leyland is
• The market leader in Indian bus market offering CNG, Double decker and
Vestibule bus variants.
• The market leader and pioneer for multi-axle trucks and tractor-trailers.
• Enjoys market supremacy in diesel engines for Industrial, Gen-set and
Marine applications.
• Largest supplier of logistic vehicles to the Indian Army.
• Offers “Total Maintenance Solutions” through maintenance contracts for
its products, relieving the customers of all maintenance worries.

26 | P a g e
ADVERTISING:
The need for advertising was felt by Ashok Leyland in 2006-07 when they
had to report the transformation that has occurred within Ashok Leyland, but
as yet not communicated to the public. They came up with a product related
Ad campaign and a Corporate campaign. Their aim was to let their target
audience perceive their brand as International, Innovative and Speedy, which
has always been their core brand value. At the All India PR awards 2007
conducted by the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI). Ashok Leyland
won the second prize for their corporate campaign. They gave a prelude to the
campaign by exhibiting their product range and their field of pioneering. This
was followed by a three ad campaign.

27 | P a g e
• Also a television commercial was aired in 2007. The commercial was made
in two languages- Hindi and Tamil. It was broadcast on mainline news
channels for wider coverage. There were translites placed at airports for
greater visibility.

ASHOK LEYLAND- THE BRAND:

“ENGINEERING YOUR TOMMOROWS” has been Ashok Leyland‟s Brand
promise. The tag line finds expression at two levels: on the hard core strategy
level, that is the sum total of the essential values of vehicle technology-safety,
comfort, economy and ecology; on the aspirational level, it denotes a warm
and caring relationship with each stake holder in a unique way.
Brand values
The two most visible- and recognized- components of the brand are the
dynamic “L” logo and the name of Ashok Leyland. The name has historic
reasons- and timeless meanings. Ashok meaning Happy is the name of the
company‟s founder Raghunandan Saran‟s son. The second part of the
company‟s name has come to cue the international aspect while 46 the first
part, so unmistakably Indian, has un-declined the custom built relevance of
the company‟s products and operations in the Indian context. Brand Ashok
Leyland is essentially and experiential brand, its values felt in day to daylife-
more palpably by its immediate customers and end users. The core of the
brand has always been innovative, international, speedy, moving with times-
and often-even ahead of it. The innards of Ashok Leyland vehicles have
always been contemporary. The core is now being matched by contours of the
new, modern, future ready range of vehicles. In 2006, Ashok Leyland felt a
need for change in perception of image among its public after its research
feedback by its brand study. Though the company has pioneered
28 | P a g e
many product concepts, and technologies, it was perceived to be a slow,
elderly and not modern brand. This made it necessary for Ashok Leyland to
bring about a shift in perception and reinforce the fact that the company was
fundamentally strong, masculine, traditional, sincere, transparent,

Financially managed and innovative. As per the research, thecompany was a

fairly strong brand with good recall value. It was seen as an
experiential brand, where the public related to it thought very high of it but
those away from the brand has only a fuzzy image of it.

Thus emerged the new Ashok Leyland with a new face. The tangible shift
began with a change in the typeface of the brand name along with a baseline.
Also the company cameup with a corporate identity manual which was
strictly to be followed by all.

The content specified brand name usage in various areas.

Various advertisements were aired to promote the brand the launch of a new
website opened to doors to the world outside.

Also screening of its corporate film helped them gain publicity.

29 | P a g e
MARKETING ENVIRONMENT:

 Legislative changes related to commercial vehicles.

 Improving efficiency in railway operations.
 Customers demanding more from manufacturers.
 Service products becoming important buying decision.
 Entry of multi-national players.
 Higher growth rate in LCV segment.
 Directly competing with railways.
 Road vs Rail share stabilizing
 Shift towards Hub and Spoke model

30 | P a g e
31 | P a g e
 3.1 PRODUCTS OF THE ASHOK LEYLAND

PRODUCT PROFILE

Ashok Leyland offers a comprehensive product range with trucks from 7.5
tons GVW to 125 tons GVW. From 19 to 80 seaters a host of special
application vehicles and diesel engines from industrial gensets and marine
application. Product profile can be broadly split into six categories viz.
passenger, goods, cargo, heavies, special Vehicles and Engines.

PASSENGER
ICV Viking MOVCheetah Viking Hino Viking ALRear Engine Bus Vestibule
Bus Panther Cruiser CNG Bus VikingSuper Double Decker
GOODS
Haulage Comet BisonTipper Taurus 6X4 Tractor Comet 2614 Tusker 3516 M
ulti Axle Tusker

CARGO
LCV Haulage Cargo 909Cargo 1614 Tipper

HEAVIES
Haulage Tractor Beaver Dumper

SPECIAL VEHICLES
Defense LRV
Fire Fighter RIV 4 x 4

32 | P a g e
 Vestibule Bus

909Cargo 1614 Tipper

Haulage Tractor Beaver Dumpe

33 | P a g e
LCV Haulage Cargo

Ambulance Van

ICV Viking Bus

34 | P a g e
 4.1 SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGH OF THE COMPANY

1. Good Training System.

2 .Good Organizational Climate.

3. High Market Share

4 .Skilled Employees

5. Strong Functional Structure

6. Standard Quality Product

WEAKNESS OF THE COMPANY

1. Low margin

2. High price

3. Sales representatives are less

4. There is no proper mechanism to handle the grievance of the customers

35 | P a g e
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE COMPANY

1. Due to liberalization, demands for heavy vehicle have stepped up all over
the globe.

2. National market through good advertisement.

3. Company provides better credit facility to dealers.

4. Company introduces promotional programmes

THREATS FACED BY THE COMPANY

1. High completion

2. Liberal credit policy of other brand3.Promotional programmes of other

brand

4. Complicated national market

5. Good replacement facility if other brands

36 | P a g e
 4.2 CONCLUSION

Ashok Leyland is a well known automobile manufacturing company in India.

In Unit I, Hosur, there is a well planned organization structure being
followed. There is a well integration of all the functional departments which
facilitates the use of software like ERP. Retention of the talented people is
essential as they contribute a lot to success of the organization. The
catalogued training programme and the resulted report have been of great help
to me, an aspirant manager, to understand the functioning of a
major establishment like Ashok Leyland. The training programme has also
revealed many unknown facts about the working of a manufacturing unit.

37 | P a g e