[JayPrashanth]

While the Ashok Leyland Stile, basically a badge engineered Nissan Evalia MPV, is still a couple of months away from an official launch and price announcement, the Indian utility vehicle major is readying up variants based on the Dost small commercial vehicle (SCV) platform. According to the EconomicTimes, the two new Dost variants said to be ready for a launch in the next month or so, are the Dost Express passenger van and the CNG powered version of the Dost mini pick up truck.



The Dost Express passenger van will compete with the Tata Magic and the Mahindra Maxximo van. The 1.5 liter-3 cylinder turbo diesel engine that does duty on the Dost pick up is expected to be carried over to the passenger van variant. The Dost Express people mover will sit under the Stile MPV in terms of pricing and will be aimed mainly at semi-urban and rural pockets of India.

The Stile, on the other hand, will be aimed at the bigger cities of the country, with the CNG powered version being an important indicator of this fact as CNG dispensing infrastructure is available only in the bigger cities. The CNG powered version of the Dost mini pick up truck has been a regular sight for automotive spotters. The launch of the CNG powered mini pick up truck could boost volumes of the Dost, amid slowing down market conditions.

The Ashok Leyland-Nissan joint venture, which has produced products such as the Dost range and the Stile, has put plans of a new factory at Sriperumbudur, off Chennai, on hold. Nissan will produce the Stile at the Renault-Nissan joint manufacturing facility at Oragadam while Ashok Leyland will continue using its Hosur factory for the Dost variants. The original plan was to set up a dedicated factory to manufacture vehicles under the Ashok Leyland-Nissan joint venture.

This plan has been deferred for the second time (the first deferral came in 2009) on account of the difficult economic climate and slow demand. According to the new schedule, the greenfield production facility will go on stream from the first quarter of 2016, while the original plan was to begin production from the said factory in 2015. Once the facility is operational, the Dost variants and the Stile would be produced from the new factory. In the meantime, Ashok Leyland plans to increase the number of dealerships selling its small commercial vehicle range.

[DWind]

Curious to understand what was Nissan's contribution to AL Dost? Is'nt the engine (3 cylinder Vs 4 cylinder K9K) and the body indigenous to AL?

[Ashley2]

Rendering images by IAB.

Originally Posted by DWind

Curious to understand what was Nissan's contribution to AL Dost? Is'nt the engine (3 cylinder Vs 4 cylinder K9K) and the body indigenous to AL?

Dost was derived from Nissan Vanette. Vanette is basically a petrol powered truck with little over 1T as GVW.
AL has tweaked the truck to 1.25T GVW with diesel engine. Additionally front styling, interiors are redesigned by AL.
P15 Engine is a brand new one, developed specifically to suit/fit Dost by AL.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Dost was derived from Nissan Vanette. Vanette is basically a petrol powered truck with little over 1T as GVW.
AL has tweaked the truck to 1.25T GVW with diesel engine.

Is Dost derived from Vanette's current version or an earlier version no longer produced in Japan? The door and windshield design of Dost looks identical to that of Venette which looks like an old design from the pic you have posted.

Originally Posted by Ashley2

P15 Engine is a brand new one, developed specifically to suit/fit Dost by AL.

No "parent" or "inspiration" engine in play here?

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by directinjection

Is Dost derived from Vanette's current version or an earlier version no longer produced in Japan? ...
No "parent" or "inspiration" engine in play here?

I dont have further details.

[JayPrashanth]

Link to News Section

Ashok Leyland has tasted big success with the Dost mini pick up truck, which the Indian utility vehicle maker developed in collaboration with Japanese automaker Nissan. Emboldened by the success of the Dost and the steady growth that the mini pick up truck/passenger van market is showing in India, Ashok Leyland has planned new variants of the Dost.



Note: The renders used in the images are speculative in nature.

While the CNG powered version of the Dost is in the works, Ashok Leyland is likely to launch the passenger van version of the mini pick up truck, as early as next month. Dubbed the Dost Express, the passenger van version of the Dost will seat no less than 14 adults, giving it a much larger capacity than both the Tata Ace Magic and the Mahindra Maxximo.

Notably, this seating capacity will mean that the Dost Express could rival the Tata Winger, although the former could feature a lower price tag than the Winger. Ashok Leyland, by offering the Dost with a 1.25 ton payload, has positioned the pick up truck above the likes of the Tata Ace and the Mahindra Maxximo.

A similar strategy could be adopted with the Dost Express, with the passenger van sitting above the likes of the Ace Magic and the Maxximo van, but below the Tata Winger. This strategy makes eminent sense given the fact that Ashok Leyland will launch the Stile MPV in October, a product that will undercut the Nissan Evalia in terms of pricing.



Notably, the Stile MPV is a badge engineered version of the Nissan Evalia. The 1.5 liter-triple cylinder, common rail turbo diesel engine that powers the Dost pick up truck is expected to make it way into the Dost Express too. This engine outputs 58 Bhp of peak power and 157.5 Nm of peak torque.

Like the Dost pick up truck, the Dost Express is expected to use a five speed manual gearbox that will drive the rear wheels. Both BS3 and BS4 versions of the Dost Express are expected to be launched, with a CNG option likely to be added to the variant mix as and when Ashok Leyland launches such an option for the Dost mini pick up truck.

A power steering and air conditioning are likely to be the creature comforts offered on the top variant of the Dost Express. The Dost Express will be built at Ashok Leyland's Hosur facility, alongside the cargo variant.

Source RohinNagrani on Twitter

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

..
Note: The renders used in the images are speculative in nature.

Dost Express, the passenger van version of the Dost will seat no less than 14 adults, giving it a much larger capacity than both the Tata Ace Magic and the Mahindra Maxximo.

Notably, this seating capacity will mean that the Dost Express could rival the Tata Winger, although the former could feature a lower price tag than the Winger....

Dost Express will compete with Magic and Maxximo Van as rural people mover rather than Winger. (Though later is very popular in Guwahati, which does the same work of Magic here). The rendering images looks good but unlikely to come in this avatar for rural markets.

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Dost Express will compete with Magic and Maxximo Van as rural people mover rather than Winger. (Though later is very popular in Guwahati, which does the same work of Magic here). The rendering images looks good but unlikely to come in this avatar for rural markets.

When I mentioned competition to the Winger, it was with regard to the seating capacity. Price wise, the Dost Express should logically sit between the Ace Magic/Maxximo and the Winger, isn't it?

Cheers,

Jay

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

When I mentioned competition to the Winger, it was with regard to the seating capacity. Price wise, the Dost Express should logically sit between the Ace Magic/Maxximo and the Winger, isn't it?..

Agreed Jay, but as a product it is positioned aganist Magic/Maxximo only in lower end taxi market and not with Winger in slightly higher end taxi market - higher in terms of passenger capacity, features, price.

[PrideRed]

I remember seeing this almost a month back near Nelamangala.
It did not look like the rendered image. Sorry did not capture the picture.
As i remember it was bigger than Tata Venture/Maxximo van and smaller than Winger.

[julupani]

Are Leyland lengthening the chassis of the Dost?? Because in the 2.3/2.4m wheel base of the Dost, I doubt you could get a 14 seat configuration squeezed in.

I think you would need at least 2.8m wheelbase to do that. The Winger I think has a 3.2m wheelbase for its 14 seat variant. Not to mention the Winger is much wider as well allowing for 4 seats side by side. The internal width of the Winger is 1.65m which is greater than the present full vehicle width of the Dost.

So if indeed Leyland are coming up with a 14 seat passenger variant of the Dost, it must be having extensive chassis modifications.

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Dost Express will compete with Magic and Maxximo Van as rural people mover rather than Winger. (Though later is very popular in Guwahati, which does the same work of Magic here). The rendering images looks good but unlikely to come in this avatar for rural markets.

Saw this guy yesterday in Madurai.. Rear finish is not upto the mark. They should improve a bit. Initially i was wondering whether this work was done by any local workshops in Madurai. Later noticed that it was temporarily registered in Hosur. This helped me in confirming that it is from AL.

[girishglg]

Originally Posted by dhandapanik

Saw this guy yesterday in Madurai.. Rear finish is not upto the mark. They should improve a bit. Initially i was wondering whether this work was done by any local workshops in Madurai. Later noticed that it was temporarily registered in Hosur. This helped me in confirming that it is from AL.
Attachment 1140966

Attachment 1140967

Is this the factory built coach for the passenger section?

This seems to be an aftermarket build using the current Dost pick up chassis and hence the rough workmanship. Come on AL you guys can do better than this and hope that this is not built off your factories.

At the hindsight these look like the ole Trekker contraptions that used to run on our roads when any of the other MUVs were not existant.

[rajeev k]

In the above vehicle the driver's cabin and the passenger space doesn't gel well and looks like a juggad kind of work. Is this factory made by AL or a handiwork o a wayside workshop guy?

[tharian]

This looks like the body was built at a Body Builder soon after the vehicle was purchased, hence the registration.
Really doubt if AL will roll out a body like this for mass production.

Regards