The Leyland name is once more associating itself with bus manufacture in Lancashire. Optare the Leeds based bus manufacturer who bought out East Lancashire Coachbuilders of Blackburn have agreed that Ashkok-Leyland of India will buy a 26% stake in the company. There is quite a mis-match in size as the Indian company makes thousands of commercial vehicles a year and is higher valued than Optare.
Ashkok-Leyland is owned by Hinduja Group and has factories in India as well as the UAE and East Europe. The company began in 1948, although the tie up with Leyland in the 1950’s created the name Ashkok-Leyland. It has manufacturing and technology agreements with Nissan and Avia as well as its own research. The tie up with Optare provides Optare technology while giving Optare access to A-L lower cost sources and wider market base.
It is forecast that the total Indian workforce will grow to be larger than that of China by 2030 and rise to a billion by 2040. If the forecast is accurate and the planet can sustain such numbers it will create a massive market that will be a magnet for worldwide manufacturers. India is training engineers at a rate not heard of here for a long time and they are generally looking to be self sufficient. Survival in the world market requires strategic intelligence as well as technological prowess and carefully controlled costs and it is hoped that Optare can cleverly tread through this minefield to continue as a British manufacturer with design and development in the UK.