Increased export contribution and the launch of new variants of Nano are expected to help Tata Motors meet its target of utilising almost full capacity at its 2.5-lakh unit a year plant at Sanand by fiscal-end.

Such a strategy will also help mitigate the erratic domestic sales experience of the compact car.

“We will stick to the production target announced earlier. We will look at a combination of exports and domestic sales to meet this,” Mr Prakash Telang, Managing Director of Tata Motors' India operations, told Business Line .

Asked if Tata Motors will also consider manufacturing other vehicles (such as the Ace LCV) at the plant, he said that such a move is “not needed” as the plant will remain dedicated to the Nano and other new variants in the range expected to be launched by March next.

A company spokesperson added that new markets for exports are also being considered. Apart from the domestic market, the Nano is also being sold in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

In April, the automaker had said that by fiscal-end, the monthly output at the Nano-only plant would be almost doubled to 20,000 units.

However, the slow sales of the small car over the past few months have made it tough for the company to have a consistent ramp-up. In October, Nano's sales touched 3,868 units — the highest point since June.

But, this was still far below the peak of 10,012 units seen in April.

Mr Telang also said that the retail sales of the Nano are doing better than the wholesale numbers (deliveries to dealers) actually reported every month. This would mean that the company has adequate inventory/stock at dealer and factory ends, requiring it to produce less and report lower wholesale numbers.

Finance schemes

“Our retail numbers are doing better. We are reaching out to many new customers through our new finance schemes. Also, around 25-30 Nano access points (dedicated sales outlets) are already operational; we plan to reach 300 by the end of this fiscal,” he said.

>roudra.b@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics