Will Tata Motors' upgrade strategy bring co back into reckoning?

byAshishK Mishra

Karl Slym would have you believe that Tata Motors has turned a new leaf. That it has learnt from past mistakes and met customers to understand what they really want from a Tata car.

Slym has been shaking things up, ever since he took over as managing director in September last year. He has pushed the R&D team and prioritised product development. The idea is obviously to boost the company’s stagnant sales, as well as build a ‘world-class’ car company. A tall ask indeed, I dare say.

However, there is no denying the fact that Slym is transforming Tata Motors in many different ways.

On the passenger vehicles side, the changes are by way of upgrades to almost all the cars in its product portfolio (except the Manza and Aria). So, there is newness in the Nano, Indica, Indigo, Sumo and Safari.

Slym believes that the changes, though cosmetic-like a new front grille for the Indica, better steering for the Nano, finger slick gear shift in the Indigo and music system with USB in the Sumo-will attract buyers. CNG versions of the Nano, Indica and Indigo are also in the offing. Ranjit Yadav, president of the passenger vehicles business unit says the CNG Nano can travel about 550 km and the CNG Indigo about 900 km, in one fill.

But is there anything new in the strategy? Tata Motors has tried facelifts before. In fact, they have been playing this game for much of the last decade. With eight upgrades at one shot, Slym is aiming to make an impact. What he really wants to say is: Every vehicle has got a new look. So, in effect, just another impact strategy.

By the end of this year, Tata Motors will also upgrade 150 of its dealerships across the country. The aim is to improve the customer sales and service experience. The cost will be borne by both Tata Motors and the dealers. The company, though, didn’t specify in what proportion.

Beyond products, what I found more interesting, are the changes within the organisation. Most significant is the return of Girish Wagh as the vice-president of programme planning and project management, in the passenger vehicles business. Post the Nano debacle, Wagh (who played a critical role in developing the small car), almost went underground. Yesterday, at the company’s Pune plant, he was back at the centre stage. He says the one lakh rupee price tag made the Nano sound cheap from a marketing point of view. The Nano never got the target customers it was intended for. Thanks to the lottery idea during the launch, it was only people who needed a third or fourth car, who bought the Nano.

But Wagh is looking ahead now. He is kicked about the car being projected, as a vehicle for the young. The CNG Nano which goes on sale starting next month, will further drive sales for a value for money buyer. He also had some fun asking journalists to try and locate the CNG tank in the Nano. Want to know where it is? Under the front seat. Wagh says it is not a safety risk. Tata Motors has completed several trials and tests on this vehicle. A lot of European small cars too have the tanks similarly positioned.

Another positive change is in the role played by Tim Leverton, head of R&D. He is now far more important than before. Leverton spoke about the changes, the values and effort the company makes in its product development in a neat corporate video. The video also had bytes from a few of his colleagues in the exterior design, safety and infotainment verticals. I checked with him if he’d ever done this before. He said, it was his first time. “I think the idea is to communicate what’s good at Tata Motors,” he says.

It is quite clear that the company is feeling the heat. And Slym is obviously trying to build morale within the company. It is not only about the products. The R&D team has been working on them for quite sometime now. Leverton says what Slym has done is make a priority list detailing the line-up to the market.

‘Horizonext’, launched at Pune, is Slym’s branding exercise to show the world how Tata Motors is transforming. At this stage, it is not clear if this will result in sales picking up. But even if it doesn’t, the process will certainly make a lot of employees happy. Well, everybody got a free shirt from the company. And that is a good start, isn’t it?

The journalist was at the Tata Motors facility in Pune on invitation from the company.