Despite witnessing an 18% drop in domestic sales in January’20 at 45,242 units as compared to 54,915, Tata Motors says it expects positive growth in sales from July onwards. It expects some demand to pick up in March, just before the change in emission norms from BS-IV to BS-VI and then from July onwards.
VivekSrivatsa, Head Marketing, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, said, “The Auto industry has grown basis on demand inherent in the market. So that is the way it will grow. Moreover, India’s car penetration is much lower than other countries. Just like we are catching up on smartphone penetration, electricity genetration, we will catch up in auto market penetration as well."
When asked about growth projections, he maintained, “Market is still on a downswing but we are still selling nearly 300 thousand cars a month. But I think demand will come back little bit in March when the pre-buying sets in (because of BS-VI emission norms) and by festive season of next (financial) year demand will be positive. By July FY 2020, we should be back on track. The market growth is based on market demand." He also maintained, “Market growth will come from smaller towns because that is where growth has been lagging all these years.”
Meanwhile, the country's biggest vehicle maker by revenue showcased an extensive range of sustainable mobility solutions at the Auto Expo 2020. The company has unveiled two new concept vehicles Sierra and HBX (based on the company's new ALFA architecture) at the Auto Expo 2020 apart from showcasing SUV Safari's successor Gravitas, Nexon EV, Automatic variant of the Harrier. The company also unveiled BS-6 compliant passenger vehicle range -- Tiago, Tigor, Altroz and Nexon, and two new commercial vehicles -- Tata Prima truck and BS-6 compliant Tata Winger.
Talking about the product lines, Srivatsa stated, “The pavilion is designed on CESS, our four technology pillars, which are revolutionizing the mobility agenda. This is our huge conversion to BS-VI Upgradation. So it was a massive job for our engineering team across PV and CV team to deliver all the BS-VI versions at the same time in the market. We have gone beyond BS-VI and have gone for mid-cycle enhancements. We also made significant design and feature improvements in our product lines. We have the safest range (of vehicles) in the market. Second is the design element. I think we are the only manufacturer unified by the same design. We have impact design 2.0 across the range."
Technology (upgradation) is also something we are actively focusing on. Lastly with BS-VI (coming in by April’20), we have made our cars much more enjoyable in terms of driving pleasure by increasing the power and torque outputs.”
BW Reporters
Ashish Sinha is an experienced business journalist who has covered FMCG, auto, infrastructure, tourism, telecom among several other beats. Ashish has keen interest in the regulatory scenario impacting different sectors. He writes on aviation, railways, post and telegraph, infrastructure, defence, media & entertainment, among a wide variety of other subjects.
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