By IANS
Chennai : Ashok Leyland Ltd, one of India’s leading truck and bus makers, has reported a 7 percent dip in its February sales compared to the same time last year.
Last month Ashok Leyland sold 7,501 units against 8,036 units sold in February 2007.
Taking into account January 2008 sales of 9,112 units, Ashok Leyland has logged declining sales for the third consecutive month.
The total vehicle sales for this fiscal till February stood at 72,611 units compared to 74,657 vehicles sold during the corresponding period the previous fiscal.
The company has also decided to pass on the benefit of excise duty reduction announced by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to its customers, said Vinod Dasari, CEO of the company.
A day before the excise cut was announced, the company had increased prices of medium and large models by 2.5 percent to offset rising input costs.
Queried about the reason for reduced sales in February, he said the general market condition was sluggish.
“Sri Lanka is our big export market. However, sales have not been happening there and hence our exports also slid down a bit,” he said.