By delivering the first set of Tigor electric cars — as part of the deal with the Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) that is procuring 10,000 electric cars from Tata Motors for various government departments — Tata Motors has joined India’s revolutionary e-mobility drive in a big way. For a company that was till recently struggling to sustain growth even in its existing portfolio, it was certainly a giant leap in terms of technology and innovation.
In the first phase, the company will deliver 250 Tigor electric vehicles. “We at Tata Motors are extremely proud to be part of this project and are supportive of the government’s transformational vision of auto electrification in India. With the Tigor EV, we have begun our journey in boosting e-mobility and will offer a full range of electric vehicles to Indian customers,” says Guenter Butschek, CEO and managing director at Tata Motors.
“This order has effectively paved the way for connecting our aspirations in the e-mobility space with the vision of the government,” says Guenter, who initiated the big transformation process at Tata Motors about a year and half ago, soon after his joining.
Back then, the auto major was badly in need of a change; it was struggling to maintain its leadership position in the highly competitive market. But today, the company has succeeded in regaining its market share to a great extent.
Tata Motors recorded a total income of Rs 2,71, 224.62 crore and total assets of Rs 2,69,297.02 crore as of March 2017, and emerged fourth in the BW Real 500 ranking.
In the Tata Motors annual report, Guenter says that one of the most important initiatives in this restructuring was the organisational effectiveness exercise that was aimed at bringing in the much needed empowerment and accountability within the business units, and strong functional oversight based on the key principles of speed, simplicity and agility.
“Due to the unexpected and unprecedented changes in the market, we faced a rather hostile business cycle with headwinds in the form of demonetisation and the famous Supreme Court ruling on BS IV transition,” he added.
The new initiatives have, however, helped in reaping positive results. Tata Motors announced strong sales numbers in November 2017, continuing its turnaround trend of the past few months. The commercial and passenger vehicles sales performance in domestic market last month surged to 52,464 units, a growth of 58 per cent over last year, largely due to the growing demand across segments, introduction of new products and strong customer initiatives. The sales of domestic commercial vehicles in November stood at 35,307 units, a growth of 72 per cent over 20,538 units in the same month a year ago. The commercial sector too has bounced back strongly after the initial disruption in the market, surrounding demonetisation and the BS4 transition that largely affected the transport industry last year.
The sales growth was also driven by the success of its innovative Selective Catalytic Reduction technology — an advanced active emissions control system — that has been well accepted by customers. Increased demand for the new tonnage vehicles and infrastructure development led by the government have also helped in reviving the medium and heavy vehicles sales, according to the company.