Tata Motors is working on a plan to rationalise the number of platforms to two from the six at the present, a move aimed at driving in more efficiencies, deriving cost benefits and improving customer satisfaction levels.
“We have decided to rationalise the number of platforms,” said Mayank Pareek, president-passenger vehicles business unit at the introduction of compact SUV Nexon here on Monday.
Fewer platforms help in achieving “commonisation, gives you economies of scale, helps servicibility of vehicles,” he said adding Advanced Modular Platform (AMP), one of the two platforms that the company would have, is rated among the best in class.
Small and big hatchbacks, small and big sedans, vans and MPVs can be made on the AMP. The other would be D8-Range Rover (JLR) platform which would primarily be used for manufacturing “small, big and bigger” SUVs. “Instead of creating unnecessary cost structure by [having] multiple platforms, you create single platform on which you can provide multiple shapes. All our future products will be based on the new platforms,” Mr. Pareek explained. From a customer perspective, serviceability of vehicles would improve.
Unveiling the Nexon, he said it was the fourth product which was unveiled by Tata Motors in the last 16 months as part of a strategy for “filling in product gaps and tapping the white spaces that will emerge. Our focus is to introduce products that not only enhance the brand, but simultaneously align well with the rising aspirations of customer segments.” By 2020, the company would have products covering 95% of the market.
To queries, he said the company expected passenger vehicle sales going past the 2-lakh- mark in the current fiscal, a growth of 30% over last fiscal’s sales of about 1.52 lakh units. While the first half was affected by “GST confusion,” the second half would be better.
Virtual showroom
Tata Motors also plans to unveil a virtual showroom. Noting that it was working with technology firms in the areas of AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality), he said the focus was to reach out to the customers and provide them the experience without creating physical infrastructure. Customisation of cars would also be possible in virtual showrooms, Mr. Pareek said.
