Tata Motors rolled out the one-millionth car from its facility in Sanand, Gujarat. The production milestone comes 65 months and 30 days, or a little less than five-and-a-half years, after the company had produced its fifth lakh made-in-Sanand car in October 2018. Tata Motors' growth in recent years is reflected in the fact that the first 5 lakh cars from the Sanand plant had taken eight years.
- Tata’s Sanand plant produces all versions of the Tiago and Tigor
- Second plant in Sanand, acquired from Ford, to add 3 lakh units per annum
- Tata Motors sales in FY2024 could hit 5.75 lakh, including 75,000 EVs
Tata Sanand plant prodcution
Set up in 2010, the Sanand plant is spread across 1,100 acres – 741 acres (Tata Motors) and 359 acres (Vendor Park) – with over 6,000 direct and indirect employees, and has been instrumental in Tata Motors’ growth and success in the passenger vehicle market. Being one of the company’s youngest plants, the Sanand facility is said to benefit from up-to-the-minute technology across all its processes. The mechanised plant has incorporated a lean process management system and houses a press line, weld shop, paint shop, assembly line and powertrain shop. The facility also has a flexible assembly line and produces automatic, CNG and all-electric versions of the Tiago and Tigor, including the fleet-only Xpres-T EV. According to the company, a single model plant has been successfully converted into multi-model plant churning out three models with 100 percent assets management and utilisation.
Commenting on the one-million production milestone, Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said, “We are extremely proud to roll out the one-millionth car from our Sanand plant. This facility has been pivotal in bolstering our growth story in India by responding to market needs promptly. This achievement is a testament to the high standards we set for ourselves and the commitment we have to our customers."
Chandra added, "Our efforts have led to higher consideration for our products and this milestone certainly reiterates the popularity of our products among consumers. We are confident to carry forward our momentum in providing safer, smarter, and greener mobility solutions. We owe this milestone. We acknowledge and thank our employees, suppliers, channel partners, and most importantly the Government of Gujarat for their unwavering support, which has been integral to achieving this milestone.”
Over the past 13 years, Tata Motors’ CSR initiatives are said to have touched over 3 lakh lives in and around Sanand. The Sanand plant has adopted more than 68 villages in and around Sanand, Bavla and Viramgam. Setting up of toilets, skill development of women to increase their employability and health and education of girl child are the key initiatives with which the plant began its CSR activities in the region.
Tata Motors now has additional manufacturing capacity coming on stream at its second plant in Sanand, acquired from Ford India. January 10, 2024 saw the first car rollout from the refurbished facility. This new plant will unlock an additional manufacturing capacity of 3 lakh units per annum, which is scalable to 4.2 lakh units per annum.
Tata Motors on track for sales record in FY2024
With 11 months of FY2024 over and March 2024 to go, Tata Motors is also well on track to achieve record fiscal-year sales. FY2023 (5,44,391 models) was its best yet and with cumulative sales of 5,22,539 units in the April 2023-February 2024 period, the company is just 21,852 units shy of that figure. The fiscal-ending March 2024 should help it drive past that and could likely hit the 5,75,000-unit sales mark for FY2024.
In February 2024, the car and SUV manufacturer followed up its best-ever monthly sales performance in January 2024 (53,633 units) with wholesale dispatches of 51,267 units in February 2024, up 20 percent YoY (February 2023: 42,862 units). This marks the second month in a row that the carmaker has clocked sales of over 50,000 units and includes 6,923 EVs, up 30 percent (February 2023: 5,318 EVs).
The company, which retails seven models – Altroz, Tigor, Tiago, Nexon, Punch, Harrier and the Safari – in the domestic market, has capitalised on surging demand for its SUVs, particularly the Nexon and the Punch compact SUVs. What has benefited the company’s growth over the past couple of years is that Tata Motors' portfolio covers petrol, diesel, CNG and electric powerplants, thereby considerably expanding its consumer reach compared to most of its rivals.
Another factor that has acted as a catalyst to Tata Motors’ accelerated growth is its first-mover advantage in India’s fast-growing electric vehicle market, where it has an over 70 percent market share. The company currently retails the Nexon EV, Tigor EV and Xpres-T (for fleet buyers), the Tiago EV and the recently launched Punch EV at Rs 10.99 lakh.
Tata Motors had last year targeted EV sales of 1,00,000 units in FY2024. However, this big number may not be achievable; nonetheless it is well set to clock cumulative sales of around 75,000 units. Cumulative 11-month sales are 67,095 units, up by a strong 54 percent YoY. Given the monthly average of 6,100 units, March 2024 should help drive total EV sales beyond the 75,000-unit mark in FY2024.
Also see:
Tata Tiago CNG AMT video review
Tata Nexon EV Max gets Rs 3.15 lakh discount this month
Tata Nexon, Nexon EV Dark Editions launched
