Mumbai: Hinduja group flagship company Ashok Leyland Ltd (ALL) has chalked out aggressive expansion plans even as the commercial vehicle maker breached the $2-billion turnover mark.

ALL reported a turnover of Rs8,304.72 crore for the year ended March 2007, a 37 per cent rise over the previous year''s figure of Rs6,053.11 crore.

The net profit has risen by 35 per cent to scale Rs441.29 crore (Rs327.32 crore). Gross operating margins are up by 30 per cent to Rs702.69 crore (Rs540.07 crore). Gross profit is placed at Rs768.16 crore (Rs556.59 crore).

"State-of-the-art technology is being sourced from across the globe with layouts being made for lean manufacturing and automation," R Seshasayee, managing director said in Chennai while announcing the company''s annual results.

Leyland has posted 35 per cent increase in net profit for the year at Rs441 crore this year compared to Rs327 crore last year.

Seshasayee said the company would be targeting the airport bus market with three buses under the brand name ''Avion'' being lined up to cater to this sector.

Operations have stabilised at the Prague based AVIA Ashok Leyland Motors and the company was targeting an annual output of 1,400 vehicles per annum, he said, adding that dealership development in existing markets with new forays were being planned.

Work is expected to commence in March 2008 at the integrated chassis and bus assembly plant at (Ras Al-Khaimah) RAKIA in the UAE, coming up at an investment of Rs38 crore, with a capacity production of 1,000 buses per year, he added.

The company is also planning to foray into the two-tonne ''pick-up'' segment and announcements regarding this would be made soon, K Sridharan, chief financial officer told reporters on the sidelines of the conference.