Tata Motors weighs China foray
Business Standard — November 17, 2005

Tata Motors is planning to enter the Chinese market and is looking at the option of setting up an assembling unit in the country. Managing director Ravi Kant said this on Monday at the launch of Tata Novus, the first rollout in India from the stable of Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company. "We are looking at various options," he said but refused to divulge further details. Incidentally, Tata Motors sources raw materials from China. Kant said the company's inorganic growth effort like the acquisition of Daewoo unit and Hispano in Spain would continue.

"Whenever there is opportunity, we shall look into it," he said. On Tata Novus, he said the new facility at Jamshedpur for Novus range bears the testimony to the successful integration of Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles with Tata Motors. The Tata Motors MD informed that the company would roll out more models from the Daewoo fold in India over two years. This would be a part of company's declared strategy to invest Rs 6,000 crore in next five years in commercial vehicle and passenger cars.

Kant said Novus, tippers for the mining and construction industry, would revolutionalise the heavy duty vehicle mart in the country the way Tata 407 did a decade back in the LCV category. "We are confident that the Novus range would change the rules of the game," he said. The main competitor of Tata Motors in this segment is Volvo. The Jamshedpur facility would have a production capacity of 6,000 vehicles per year. Tata Motors will tap the China, Pakistan, Japan, Middle East and South Africa markets with Novus.

On the company's acquisition plans overseas, Ravi Kant said. "We can never say yes or no, but we are always open to good proposals." About the response to newly launched light commercial vehicle offering, the Ace, he said the vehicle was launched in five states and currently, has sold out all 3,000 units produced each month.