Ashok Leyland to be renamed Hinduja Leyland

CHENNAI: Hinduja Group company Ashok Leyland (AL) is in the process of going through a major branding exercise which will include a change in its logo, name as well as category segmentation. Sources in the marketing circuit and the company said that the exercise is part of the larger Hinduja Group corporate branding exercise which is underway.

London-based firm Wolff Olins is said to be working on the rebranding and category segmentation exercise for Ashok Leyland. When contacted, a company spokesperson sent an email reply saying: "There is a brand exercise afoot but at present the project is at too nascent a stage to offer any comments."

Ashok Leyland is segmenting and branding the different product categories it will house thanks to its tie-up with Nissan and other global alliances. A source said Ashok Leyland will get a new identity as part of the group rebranding exercise which will give all companies in the Hinduja Group a common brand profile and will result in Ashok Leyland being rechristened Hinduja Leyland.

Wolff Olins has been assigned the job of rebranding the company to put it in the same league as that of its global alliance partners. The company is likely to bring in a fresh team of designers from across the globe for this exercise.

"A complete overhaul for the brand could not have happened at a better time. The commercial vehicles space is becoming like the car market, with all major global players vying for the Indian consumer. So Ashok Leyland has to rethink its positioning in the market," says Prathish Nair, director (brand strategy and client development) at Trancend Brand Consulting. "Vehicles today need to go beyond being sturdy and reliable- they have to be sleeker, faster and more fuel efficient. Driver comfort is another ignored area that MNCs are leading the way in." The Hinduja Group is also working on a strategy to give a common corporate and brand identity to all the companies. In the recent past, group chairman S P Hinduja was quoted saying that a new logo and image for group flagship Ashok Leyland was being considered. Though not officially confirmed, the branding exercise is reportedly being forged by Martin Lindstrom, while the Ashok Leyland branding will be handled by Wolff Olins.

"In recent years, AL has forged global alliances like its joint venture with Nissan and its 26% stake in UK-based busmaker Optare. As a result, its various product categories require rebranding because it is now entering segments it has never had a presence in before," said a company official.