Ashok Leyland STiLE

The Ashok Leyland STiLE (or STiLE) is a minivan manufactured by Ashok Leyland and was a rebadged Nissan NV200 produced under license for the Indian market. The vehicle was unveiled during the 2012 Auto Expo and was launched in July 2013.

STiLE was produced as a "minivan" to be used as a commercial vehicle (hotel shuttles, taxi, ambulances, panel van, courier service, inter-city) and for intra-city travel.[1]

History

The STiLE was unveiled during India's 2012 Auto Expo.[2] It was launched on July 16, 2013.[3] The vehicle was a modified Evalia platform and it was manufactured the same plant as that of the Evalia. STiLE was manufactured as a MPV for urban conditions. The prototype STiLE unveiled at the Auto Expo had Ashok Leyland's 1.5-liter engine which was later replaced by the K9K (a family of straight-4 turbocharged diesel engines co-developed by Nissan and Renault) that powers the Evalia.

Unlike the Evalia, which produced 85 bhp, STiLE produced 75 bhp. The company had initially planned to introduce a compressed natural gas (CNG) engine along with the conventional diesel engine.[4]

On February 27, 2015, an Ashok Leyland representative said that there were plans to relaunch the STiLE.[5]

In May 2015, Ashok Leyland shut down production of the vehicle due to low demand.[6]

Variants

Although Ashok Leyland had originally announced two different engine types (CNG and diesel), STiLE was manufactured only with diesel engines.[7]

STiLE had three variants: LE, LS and LX. All three variants had same engine displacement, bhp and specifications except for seating capacity (LE had 8 seats whereas other two variants had option between 7 and 8 seats) and alloy wheels given as an option with LS and LX variants.[8]

See also

• Nissan NV200