JOIN USAshok Leyland, one of the largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles, has declared a five-day holiday for its plant in Ennore near here from Friday, two days after it reported a 70 per cent drop in sales of Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicle (M&HCV) in August.
The Hinduja Group-owned company made the announcement in a notice circulated among its employees on Thursday. It said September 6,7, 9,10 and 11 as non-working days due to continued sluggishness and contraction in the commercial vehicle market and “corrective actions” are being taken to safeguard the interest if the company.
It also said wages payable for the non-working days declared on September 6, 7, 10 and 11 will be decided after discussions with ALEU. “For the non-working day on September 9, 2019, employees will be paid sixth-day compensation,” the notice said.
This is the second time Ashok Leyland has announced non-working days in the past two months due to slowdown in the automobile sector. Two TVS Group-owned companies, Sundaram Clayton and Lucas-TVS, had announced non-working days in August due to less demand for vehicles in the market.
The decision by Ashok Leyland came two days after the company released its sales figures for the month of August. It's August domestic sales plunged to 8,296, compared with 16,628 units sold in the same month last year. It witnessed a steep 63 per cent fall in the M&HCV sector.