The lone bus manufacturer in the GCC, Ashok Leyland, is raising investments at its Ras Al Khaimah facility as it ramps up production and gets ready to take advantage of the UAE's growing potential as a key launching pad for bus and truck exports to Africa.

The fourth-largest bus manufacturer in the world is intensifying its plans to introduce luxury coaches and electric buses in the GCC market, bolstered by the brand's record bus sales from the previous year, which were achieved by the Indian-origin company.

For us in the GCC as a whole and the UAE in particular, last year had been a terrific year. As a result of the school bus purchase and other orders, we more than quadrupled our regional sales in FY 2022, and we may grow our market share, according to Ashok Leyland's head of international operations, Amandeep Singh.

In 2022, Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja Group's flagship brand, sold over 4,500 cars in the area, primarily from its $50 million Ras Al Khaimah facility while importing trucks from India. With enhanced manufacturing capacity, the firm intends to produce trucks in the UAE facility after selling more than 1,500 of its partner line of trucks in the area.

We can now produce 5,500–6,000 units thanks to efficiency and line improvements, therefore Amandeep claimed that the move of truck manufacture to RAK was on schedule.

Ashok Leyland has a market share of over 70% in the staff and school bus industry and between 25% and 28% in the local vehicle market.

Pent-up demand from the Covid years also contributed to the sales boom of the previous year. According to Amandeep, the current year also appears promising, and aside from the demand for school buses, truck sales are also increasing. He continued by saying that Ashok Leyland is confident in its ability to increase sales volumes in the UAE and surrounding nations, particularly in the expanding Saudi Arabian market, and that it expects to outperform last year.

According to Singh, Ashok Leyland is creating coaches that will have modern aesthetics and be appropriate for the GCC markets. This will be introduced to the UAE market at the same time as the country adopts the Euro 6 emission regulations the following year.

Ashok Leyland is considering the UAE as a door to other markets, notably Africa, with increased capacity and new products in the works. "From the UAE base, we can expand from 'Made in the UAE' to 'Made for the World.' For this, we want specific incentives, such as preference for local purchases and export financing, in order to promote the UAE as an export centre to Africa, which is developing into a significant market for buses, especially given that the majority of the continent's countries have almost no public transport infrastructure. These incentives are also necessary for us to compete in such marketplaces," according to Singh.

"We are the dominant player in the UAE market, and we are currently concentrating on expanding our export markets. "We do need to make greater expenditures in EVs and coaches. We have been investing in the RAK factory over the years to boost production efficiency, and we are prepared to raise it even more," he added.