Ashok Leyland is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturer, headquartered in Chennai. It is owned by the Hinduja Group. It was founded in 1948 as Ashok Motors which became Ashok Leyland in the year 1955. Ashok Leyland is the second-most successful manufacturer of commercial vehicles in India (with a market share of 32.1% in 2016), the third-most successful manufacturer of buses in the world, and the tenth-most successful manufacturer of trucks. With the corporate office located in Chennai, its manufacturing facilities are in Ennore, Bhandara, two in Hosur, Alwar and Pantnagar. Ashok Leyland also has overseas manufacturing units with a bus manufacturing facility in Ras Al Khaimah (UAE), one at Leeds, United Kingdom and a joint venture with the Alteams Group for the manufacture of high-press die-casting extruded Aluminium components for the automotive and telecommunication sectors. Operating nine plants, Ashok Leyland also makes spare parts and engines for industrial and marine applications. Ashok Leyland has a product range from 1T GVW (Overall Vehicle Weight) to 55T GTW (Overall Trailer Weight) in trucks, 9 to 80-seater buses, vehicles for defence and special applications, and diesel engines for industrial, genset and marine applications. In 2019, Ashok Leyland claimed to be in the top 10 global commercial vehicle makers. It sold approximately 140,000 vehicles (M&HCV and LCV) in 2016. The company has passenger transportation options ranging from 10 seaters to 74 seaters (M&HCV = LCV). In the trucks segment, Ashok Leyland primarily concentrates on the 16 to 25-ton range and has a presence in the 7.5 to 49 ton production range. History Ashok Motors Ashok Motors was founded in 1948 by Raghunandan Saran, an Indian freedom fighter from Punjab. By the end of the Indian Independence Movement, he was persuaded by India's first Prime Minister Nehru to invest in a modern industrial venture. Ashok Motors was incorporated in 1948 as a company to assemble and manufacture Austin cars from England, and the company was named after the founder's only son, Ashok Saran. The company had its headquarters in Chennai, with the manufacturing plant in Chennai. The company was engaged in the assembly and distribution of Austin A40 passenger cars in India. The collaboration ended sometime in 1975 but the holding of British Leyland, now a major British auto conglomerate as a result of several mergers, agreed to assist in technology, which continued until the 1980s. After 1975, changes in management structures saw the company