Rover to quit Ashok
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• The repercussions of the formation of Leyland Daf in February have now spread to India. Rover Group is selling its stakes in Ashok Leyland, the major Indian commercial vehicle manufacturer, and an associated foundry.
Rover says it has already received about 20 offers for its 39% holding in Ashok Leyland and for its 50% holding in Ennore Foundries.
The state-owned car maker will not reveal the names of any of the bidders, but says interest has been shown both inside and outside India. Some European truck manufacturers are believed to have submitted offers, as has the Indian scooter manufacturer Bajaj Auto.
Daf was offered the stakes in the Indian companies — which are the only two remaining assets of Rover Group's international CV holding company, Land RoverLeyland International — during the Leyland Daf negotiations but rejected them, probably to avoid overstretching its management.
Ashok Leyland is India's second largest heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer, having built some 16,000 trucks and buses last year. It was established as a joint venture between Leyland and the Indian government in the early 1960s, and has always been profitable. Much of Ennore Foundries' business comes from Ashok. Rover says it will not sell its stakes in the two companies separately.
One of the truck makers likely make a bid for stakes in Ashok and Ennore is the Japanese company, Hino, which clinched a technology transfer deal two years ago under which Ashok manufactures Hino W Series diesel engines under licence in India. These engines will probably replace the Leyland 400 Series engines, also built under licence, which currently power most Ashok vehicles.
The latest forward control Ashok cab, designated the FES (front end structure) was designed by Leyland Trucks along similar lines to its C44Roadrunner cab.