CHENNAI: The city-based commercial vehicles maker Ashok Leyland on Wednesday reported an all-time high net profit of Rs 796 cr in Q3 of FY26, an increase of 4 per cent over same period last year.
Attributing the performance to GST rationalisation, which had not only lowered prices but also given a fillip to the overall freight demand triggering fresh replacement cycle in the CV industry, Shenu Agarwal, MD-CEO, Ashok Leyland, said “Our strategy continues to be anchored in delivering profitable growth through sustained product premiumisation, structural cost competitiveness, wider service coverage, and continued focus to grow non-CV businesses.”
KM Balaji, CFO, Ashok Leyland, in his media presentation, said the company’s volume growth across its product portfolios has beaten the industry. For instance, MHCV (medium and heavy commercial vehicle) industry volume was higher by 21 per cent, whereas Ashok Leyland’s volumes soared 23 per cent with vehicle sales at 32,929 units.
Likewise, in the Q3, LCV (light commercial vehicle) volumes were at 20,518 units compared to 15,754 units in Q3 FY25, up 30 per cent. It exported 4,965 units in Q3 of FY26 against 4,151 units in Q3 FY25, a growth of 20 per cent.
Despite being a late entrant in the “crowded” LCV segment, it has seen gaining market and improved by 700 basis points, Balaji pointed out. Dheeraj Hinduja, executive chairman, Ashok Leyland, said the company has been continuously growing with its market share steadily improving. Also, it is not in the game of garnering market share through discounting methods. “Market conditions continue to be favourable, and we are optimistic that this strength will sustain in the medium term across all our businesses, including MHCV, LCV, and Defence. Our electric vehicle arm, Switch, has a healthy order book and a well-defined product roadmap. It has started delivering buses in international markets and has achieved positive EBITDA and PAT over the first nine months,” Hinduja said.
To a query on capex, Agarwal said already Rs 800 cr had been spent as the company gears up to spend another Rs 300 cr in the coming quarters. Over the next two to three years, it has earmarked an annual capex of Rs 1,000 crore.