India’s Ashok Leyland Closing Czech Truck Plant

VIENNA – Indian commercial-vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland will phase out production next month at its Avia Ashok Leyland Motors light-truck plant in Prague, Czech Republic.

The company says the decision was made due to the current global economic slowdown.

Avia Ashok Leyland, which manufactured 1,003 trucks and cab-chassis kits last year, only produced four vehicles this year through May. In recent months it was selling trucks from last year’s production run.

Avia-badged light trucks mainly were sold in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and some other European markets with a small number of vehicles shipped overseas.

The Czech company manufactured cab-chassis kits destined for the U.S., where Smith Electric Vehicles used the kits as the basis of its Newton electric truck.

“Smith Electric Vehicles will continue to work with Ashok Leyland during the transition of their manufacturing to India,” the Kansas City, MO-based maker of commercial EVs says in a statement. “The company does not expect any significant disruption in its supply chain due to the closure of the plant in Prague.”

Ashok Leyland is expected to continue producing Avia trucks in India. The CV maker may export vehicles to Europe in completely built-up form or as assembly kits in the future.

“Future products would be made available from other manufacturing sites of Ashok Leyland as and when the economic situation improves,” the Indian company says of possible sales in Europe.

The Avia D-Series truck range now built in Prague was developed in cooperation with Korea’s Daewoo (now GM Korea), which owned the plant between 1995 and 2005. Ashok Leyland acquired the Czech manufacturer in 2006 and employed 227 workers at the end of 2012.

The Avia plant in Prague has a long history. It was established as aircraft manufacturer in 1919 and became involved in truck production in 1946.

In 1967 the company launched production of light trucks under the Avia brand. The vehicles were based on a license purchased from then-CV manufacturer Saviem, a subsidiary of French auto maker Renault.

Avia production peaked at about 19,000 units in 1983.