Mr. Tata! Prove Mr. Suzuki Wrong
Posted : April 27, 2006 at 12:41 pm [IST]
In Tokyo on April 21, Osamu Suzuki, the outspoken chief executive of Suzuki Motor Corp, who engineered the company’s successful foray into India 24 years ago, said, a plan by Tata Motors Ltd. to launch a $2,000 car in India was not feasible in light of the planned advent of stricter safety and environmental regulations.
Tata Motors is seriously working on Rs 1 lakh car and, as per report, has a plan to launch a car in 2008-9 that will cost less than 100,000 rupees ($2,200), targeting a potential market between motorcycles and Maruti/Suzuki’s low-end cars. Ratan Tata has committed to this project, as he did for the successful Indica. The company must have moved pretty ahead on the project. The chiefs of Maruti as well as other competition had already come out with their apprehensions in press. However, with all my years in automotive industry and its planning and my experience in design and manufacturing, I have written about the project favourably in past too.
With value engineering, innovative product design, manufacturing management, and marketing strategy, men of rattan Tata will make it feasible. And now with this open Mr. Suzuki’s statement, Mr. Ratan Tata and Tata Motors must take it as a challenge for the engineering knowledge of Indian engineers and their innovative capability.
I wish Tata Motors to succeed and succeed fast. It hardly matters the price of the car is Rs 1 lakh or a little above. It will be acceptable if the price is significantly lower than the present lowest cost model of Maruti, and the design is contemporary and roadworthy.
- Indra
Category: Manufacturing |
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