What it does: Ashok Leyland Ltd is the 2nd largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in India the 4th largest manufacturer of buses in the world and the 12th largest manufacturer of trucks globally.
Mission: Through authentic relationships, we are building better, stronger and more sustainable communities
Size and presence: Around 17,000 nationally headquartered in Chennai
Best known for: The company was established in 1948 and maintained its name for manufacturing advanced technological trucks in India
The good bits: Great exposure to technology along with good work environment.
The not so good bits: Work-life balance depends on the department you work in. More working hours for contractors.
Ashok Motors was founded in 1948 by Raghunandan Saran. He was an Indian freedom fighter from Punjab. After Independence, he was persuaded by India's first Prime Minister Nehru to invest in a modern industrial venture. Ashok Motors was incorporated in 1948 as a company to assemble and manufacture Austin cars from England, and the company was named after the founder's only son, Ashok Saran. The company had its headquarters in Chennai, with the manufacturing plant in Chennai. The company was engaged in the assembly and distribution of Austin A40 passenger cars in India.
Raghunandan Saran had previously negotiated with Leyland Motors of England for assembly of commercial vehicles as he envisioned commercial vehicle were more in need at that time than were passenger cars. But unfortunately Raghunandan Saran died in a air crash shortly and the company under the Madras State Government and other shareholders finalised the deal for an investment and technology partner, thus, Leyland Motors joined in 1954 with equity participation, changing the name of the company to Ashok Leyland. Ashok Leyland then started manufacturing commercial vehicles. Under Leyland's management with British expatriate and Indian executives the company grew in strength to become one of India's foremost commercial vehicle manufacturers. Raghunandan family continued to be one of the major shareholders.
The collaboration ended sometime in 1975 but the holding of British Leyland, now a major British auto conglomerate as a result of several mergers, agreed to assist in technology, which continued until the 1980s. After 1975, changes in management structures saw the company launch various vehicles in the Indian market, with many of these models continuing to this day with numerous upgrades over the years.
In 1987, the overseas holding by Land Rover Leyland International Holdings Limited (LRLIH) was taken over by a joint venture between the Hinduja Group, the Non-Resident Indian transnational group and Iveco, part of the Fiat Group.
In 2007, the Hinduja Group also bought out Iveco's indirect stake in Ashok Leyland. The promoter shareholding now stands at 51%. Today the company is the flagship of the Hinduja Group, a British-based and Indian originated trans-national conglomerate. Ashok Leyland launched India's first electric bus and Euro 6 compliant truck in 2016. In June 2020, Ashok Leyland launched its new range of modular trucks, AVTR. In September 2020, Ashok Leyland launched the Bada Dost based on its indigenously developed LCV platform called Phoenix.
It depends entirely on your department. Since in manufacturing locations (Plants), you'll find that the post or designations counts for nothing. Experience matters a lot. At plants, you'll be primarily working on functions like Production, Plant engg, Quality and etc etc, which will be dynamic in nature. There will be challenges everyday, and no day will be the same.
The average age in manufacturing locations are quite high ~ 45, whereas in departments like Product Development, you'll find the average of people working will be low ~ 30.
There will be a mix of old fashioned practices and some modern approaches
In short, It will be quite a positive challenge to work at Ashok Leyland. The work culture at AL is taking a positive shift. Ashok Leyland is on the brink of another big change.
Ashok Leyland, one of the renowned company which deals into the manufacture of commercial vehicles in India. Ashok Leyland has its headquarters located in Chennai along with 8 manufacturing plants spread across the globe in places like UAE. Ashok Leyland also has collaborated with Nissan Motors for the manufacture and marketing of light commercial vehicles, John Deere in USA for construction equipments, Continental AG in Germany for products in Automotive Infotronics and lastly with the Alteams Group for the manufacture of high press - die casting extruded aluminium components for the automotive and telecommunications sectors. The products manufactured by Ashok Leyland are Buses, Trucks, Light Vehicles like LCV Trucks, SCV’s, etc., Defence Vehicles and Power Solutions.
The selection procedure of Ashok Leyland comprises of 3 papers in totality, 2 from the technical section and 1 from the non – technical section, i.e. the aptitude section followed by HR interview rounds. The two papers involving technical questions cover almost all the technical topics along with engineering drawings as well. The 1st technical paper consists of 50 questions which are to be completed in 25 minutes and the questions are based on Mathematics. The 2nd technical paper comprises of 50 questions to be completed in 30 minutes. For the 3rd paper which consists of questions from the aptitude section incorporates 60 questions which are to be completed in 30 minutes.
The HR interview round incorporates questions depends upon the engineering fields of the candidates, for example candidates from Bachelors in Technology field, questions asked are covering the topics thermal, automobile and I.C. Engines and areas of your interest or if you have done Masters in Technology then most of the questions are based on your thesis. Also knowledge on CATIA software, which is generally used for designing in automobile companies, will be an added advantage, as there are certain questions based on this software as well.
One of the best organizations for making men out of boys. As a fresher out of college, you dream of working under seniors who will handhold, guide, and teach you; a decent salary, not only to make your ends meet but to splurge as well. 5 days a week and usually no disturbances on weekends.
At AL, you get all these things. As a GET, the company is actually paying you to learn things. But most importantly, the company is investing in a future leader. I can tell you, the GET channel gets super attention from HR, as, this channel gets monitored by MD as well. You remain under the gaze of HR, even after you complete the mandatory training period and get posted to your chosen area. So, if you deserve it, then your career would always be on the upswing, courtesy of you being a GET.
Nobody would disturb you on weekends and you can hope to get a superb work-life balance here. Important is, you must have a learning attitude and if that means working on weekends, then you should not get rattled. You must learn as many things as possible during this period.
Average Ashok Leyland Fresher salary in India is ₹ 7 Lakhs per year for employees with less than 1 year of experience. Fresher salary at Ashok Leyland ranges between ₹ 0.9 Lakhs to ₹ 15.1 Lakhs per year.
Ashok Leyland, flagship of the Hinduja Group, has CSR programs in environment, health, education and infrastructure. In 2015-16, Ashok Leyland partnered with Learning Links Foundation, an NGO, to develop and provide a holistic program, consisting of educational and health improvements, to the children in India who drop out of school due to lack of infrastructure, poor financial and living conditions that make it difficult for them to pursue education and improve their standard of living. The Road to School program began with 36 schools in Shoolagiri and Anchetty in Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, and has now reached 714 schools impacting more than 55,000 students in government primary and upper primary schools.
In 2019, in partnership with the Akshaya Patra Foundation, Ashok Leyland launched the Breakfast Program that benefitted 7,800 students in 70 Government schools in Shoolagiri and Thally Block. The program was aimed to provide hot and nutritious breakfast to the school children. The program is also aimed at bringing social equality among the children belonging to remote villages.
In 2020, in wake of the pandemic, COVID-19, Hinduja Foundation launched the ‘iCare: Volunteer from Home’ initiative which was aimed at reaching out to the underprivileged children across the nation and provide online education. Under this initiative, employees of the Hinduja Group Companies, including Ashok Leyland and others, interacted with the students and their families to engage them in a range of activities through technology based online and offline interactive modes. The iCare initiative spanned over the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana.
The Hinduja dispute: Four brothers and a document that is key to their $15.6 billion fortune. Till now, the four bothers were seen in sync. Not anymore. And at the center of their dispute is a 2014 document that led to a newsworthy eye grab.