Tata Motors is going to start production of passenger vehicles at the plant taken over from Ford in the next 12-18 months. This plant is located in Sanand, Gujarat.
In August last year, the company had announced that its subsidiary Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd (TPEML) would acquire Ford India Pvt Ltd’s (FIPL) Sanand plant in Gujarat for Rs 726 crore. The company has completed it only last month.
According to Tata Motors, the Sanand plant can produce 3 lakh units in a year, which can be increased to 4.2 lakh units every year. TPEML is in the process of making the necessary investments to reconfigure the plant to be compatible with existing and future vehicle platforms of the Mumbai-based automaker. The unit is adjacent to Tata Motors’ existing manufacturing facility at Sanand.
Tata Motors managing director (passenger vehicles and electric vehicles) Shailesh Chandra said the company has the potential to increase capacity by 10-15 per cent at its two existing facilities in Pune and Sanand. Also told that, “We are targeting to start the Ford plant in 12 to 18 months.” Chandra said the company’s production capacity is currently around 50,000 units per month.
On the company’s preparations to make Tata cars compliant with BSVI emission norms phase II, Chandra said, “We are ahead of time.” At the same time, after the waiting period, the industry is now in a situation where the supply has become completely normal.
Chandra said the company will have to take a fresh look at the demand situation post the BS VI Stage 2 emission norms, as vehicle prices are expected to increase due to the rollout of the new regulatory mechanism. As far as margins are concerned, the automaker is taking cost-cutting measures. Commenting on the sales, he said that with lower inventory and better supply, Q4 could be stronger in terms of wholesales as compared to Q3.
