West Asia crisis disrupts Ashok Leyland’s GCC operations

Chennai: West Asia tensions disrupted Ashok Leyland’s international operations during the fourth quarter of FY26, forcing the commercial vehicle maker to temporarily scale down production at its Ras Al Khaimah facility and resulting in a decline in overseas CV volumes. The company reported a 3% drop in international business CV volumes during Q4 FY26 to 5,322 units, compared with 5,460 units in the corresponding quarter last year. However, for the full year FY26, international volumes rose 19% to 18,082 units from 15,255 units in FY25.Speaking to TOI on Thursday, Ashok Leyland chairman Dheeraj Hinduja said the conflict in West Asia had impacted production for nearly five to six weeks after the war escalated in the second half of March. “The GCC is a very important market for us, and we have our plant in Ras Al Khaimah. Naturally, when the war broke out, we had to take certain measures, including slowing down production. Some of the workforce also had to be moved out,” he said.Despite the disruption, Hinduja said demand in the region, particularly for school buses, remained strong and operations were gradually returning to normal. “There was an impact, but production is picking up again. Demand continues to remain strong, although we are in an uncertain phase because we do not know when a settlement will be reached. For us, ramping up production to meet demand will not be an issue,” he added.