About us

From aircrafts to trucks – The journey of a brand

The Czech company AVIA, founded in 1919, began as an aircraft and engine manufacturer. Aerospace technology is renowned for its high quality and precision – the DNA on which the current AVIA company is built.

In the post-war era, AVIA became involved in the automotive industry. Besides trucks, the company even manufactured armoured transporters for the army. A major milestone was the signing of a license agreement with the French manufacturer, SAVIEM to produce highly successful light trucks under the brand name AVIA. High quality, a tradition of AVIA, has been largely responsible for this success, not only in the former COMECON countries, but also in the more advanced markets of Western Europe and North Africa. For instance, in five years from 1982 to 1987, more than 13.000 units were exported to Algeria. Thanks to their simplicity and robustness, they were an ideal object for local assembling from CKD kits like in Morocco and Egypt.

Today AVIA is fully owned and forms an integral part of the India-based Ashok Leyland Ltd, a truck manufacturing giant with a yearly output exceeding 80.000 units. Ashok Leyland is the flagship of the HINDUJA Group, a multi billion dollar transnational conglomerate. Besides automotive, the Hinduja Group has presence in other sectors like international trading, banking & finance, investment banking, ITes, energy & chemicals, foundries, media & entertainment and healthcare. Ashok Leyland invests heavily in AVIA, a brand name synonymous with sophisticated, high tech, high quality products.