Hinduja Group flagship company Ashok Leyland's joint venture with construction equipment manufacturer John Deere has significantly scaled down operations owing to poor sales.
The two partners are in discussions over the future of the joint venture, officials said.
Also, the city-based commercial vehicle manufacturer has reportedly issued a notice to another JV partner Nissan, claiming the foreign auto maker was using the equipment of Ashok Leyland at the factory at Oragadam near Chennai.
Ashok Leyland's JV with John Deere involves manufacturing of construction equipment with products like Backhoe loaders, four-wheel-drive loaders and excavators under both Ashok Leyland and John Deere brands.
Talking about the joint venture partnership with US-based John Deere, Ashok Leyland Chief Financial Officer Gopal Mahadevan said, "The manufacturing and sales operations have been significantly brought down" and the companies are in discussion on the future of the JV.
"As far as John Deere is concerned, the manufacturing and sales operations have been significantly brought down. We are in discussions with our partners to decide on the way forward (for the JV). Once it is done, we will make a final announcement," he told reporters.
On the JV with John Deere, he said the company has "sufficient" capacity to manufacture the products.
The city-based commercial vehicle manufacturer has also reportedly issued a notice to another JV partner Nissan, claiming the foreign auto maker was using the equipment of Ashok Leyland at the factory at Oragadam near Chennai.
While officials from the Nissan Motor Company were unavailable for comment, Mahadevan denied to comment saying, "the matter is sub-judice".
Ashok Leyland retails Dost, Partner and Mitr under the JV with Nissan and Mahadevan said manufacturing and sales of the light commercial vehicles were "happening".
The manufacturer has a joint venture with Nissan Motor Company to develop and manufacture light commercial vehicles under both the Ashok Leyland and Nissan brands in the 2.50 to 7.50 tonne categories.
The company produces DOST, one of the successful models in the segment while second product "Stile", a multi-purpose vehicle did not yield enough volumes, for both the companies.
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