M S Dhoni is Ashok Leyland's new Brand Ambassador

Star power has helped umpteen automotive and CV brands in India shape their destinies for the better, and while we as consumers or even auto enthusiasts sometimes feel a disconnect with the celebrity and the product he chooses to endorse, news of Ashok Leyland signing up Mahi as its new brand ambassador makes us prouder of the man and happier for the brand.

In the first-ever association with a celebrity endorser in over six decades Ashok Leyland has chosen the captain of the Indian Cricket Team and the Chennai Super Kings (IPL Team) to endorse the Company’s role in creating success stories for its various stakeholders, a brand building exercise that will hopefully help the CV major earn significant market share.

In a recorded message, M.S. Dhoni said, “As a young boy from a small town, I have spent a lot of time traveling on buses and have seen trucks and truckers at close quarters. I understand the importance of transport and logistics to the development of our country. It is a privilege to become a part of the Ashok Leyland family that with its products and services is helping people move to better lives.”

Commenting on the signing, Vinod K Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland said, “Mahi’s choice was almost automatic for I cannot think of another person befitting the values of Brand Ashok Leyland so well. A true son-of-the-soil, a leader who is focused, straight-thinking, passionate and, most of all, humble, he will lead the numerous initiatives that are on the anvil.

Ashok Leyland’s association with Mahi comes at a most opportune time. The CV major’s future-ready U-Truck range has already started to make its presence felt in the market with the innovative 8x2 on the anvil. It also has a number of innovative products ready to roll out like the Jan Bus and the 10x2.

To what extent, Dhoni’s association with Ashok Leyland will prove beneficial only time will tell, but if there is one thing that we see in common between the 64 year old CV maker and its new ‘captain cool’ brand endorser it is their sturdiness when faced with hardship and their ability to always lead by example. For the time being, be sure to catch Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Ashok Leyland’s new television commercial that has now gone on air.