Slym announces 8 upgrades, plans new SUV; Sanand plant may make other small cars, too

Tata Motors is planning a slew of launches, including those of a more powerful Nano, sports utility vehicles based on the Land Rover and upgrades to other models, over the next few years, to arrest the decline in its sales.

That’s not all. The company will also roll out other small cars, apart from the Nano, from the Sanand plant in Gujarat before the end of this financial year. The plant, with a capacity of 300,000 units a year, has been operating at less than 20 per cent capacity utilisation since the beginning of last financial year.

The company believes that no significant changes will have to be made at the plant, as only small cars will be produced there. Among other small cars in the company’s line-up are the Indica and the Vista.

The Mumbai-based company on Wednesday showcased an improved Nano (2013 model). It was one of the eight refreshed products, across five brands, that the carmaker unveiled on Wednesday. The others were improved versions of the Indigo CS, Sumo Gold and Safari Storme.

Going forward, the Nano, launched three years back, is likely to get an upgraded and more powerful engine so that it can compete well with rivals, such as the Maruti Alto or the Hyundai Eon, which are currently positioned higher.

The sales of the Tata Nano fell 28 per cent to 53,848 units last financial year and 88 per cent to 1,014 units last month (compared with the same month the previous year). But Tata Motors believes the mini car presents a lot of opportunity and calls it an ‘open canvas’.

Tata Motors MD Karl Slym on Wednesday said: “As we go forward, the Nano could be a lot of other things — it is a canvas on which many things can be done. It presents opportunities like those given by the Mini Cooper or the Fiat 500.”

Tata Motors, once a dominant player in the utility vehicle space, has lost its market to Mahindra & Mahindra over the past decade. To regain lost ground and further strengthen its line-up, it is exploring the option of launching products developed using the platform of the Land Rover models.

Source: Business Standard

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