Wounded by weak demand, automaker Ashok Leyland which had announced non-working days for its five plants during the month dropped almost 2% on September 9.

According to the filing, the company’s Ennore plant will have 16 non-working days, Hosur 1, 2 and CPPS five days, Alwar and Bhandara 10 days and Pantnagar 18 non-working days, in September 2019 due to continued weak demand for its products.

The company which is already down 31% in the last three months, reported commercial vehicle sales of 9,231 units (41% decline) for the month of August. The company which had reported sales of 17,386 units in the same month a year ago saw their sales dip 47%.

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The company also reported a 28% drop in total sales at 10,927 vehicles in July while in the year-ago-month had registered sales of 15,199 units.

However, considering the government’s proposed expenditure on road construction projects, Ashok Leyland has reportedly pinned its hopes on the possible improvement in demand for construction and mining trucks.

The auto sector has taken a major hit amid reduced demand in the sector, with many companies resorting to measures such as non-productive, non-working days and shedding jobs

At 11:12am, Ashok Leyland was quoting at Rs 62.70, down Rs 1.20, or 1.88%, according to a media report.

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