TVS Motor Company will implement a programme, over the next two to three years, to reduce the number of parts in two-wheelers as a measure to reduce cost and improve quality and reliability.
Addressing shareholders at the 20 annual general meeting of the company here on Wednesday, and later in an interaction with presspersons Chairman and Managing Director Venu Srinivasan said the parts rationalisation would be achieved through platform rationalisation.
“We have multiple platforms compared to competition, so one of the key thrust areas is to reduce the number of platforms. This would bring down the number of parts and thereby improve cost, quality and reliability,” he said.
President and CEO K. N. Radhakrishnan said post-implementation commonalities of parts will be much more and over a period of time, there would be a few base platforms. “It will simplify many of the activities, save you time and labour,” he said, pointing out that in a common platform, the exterior would be different but the interior would be the same.
Mr. Srinivasan said the company was basically buying parts and sub-assemblies from China. “That’s our only interest in China, which is the only other large two-wheeler manufacturer in the world with low cost and high quality,” he added.
E-marketing group
Mr. Srinivasan said in the next three-to-four years the focus would be on strengthening the current brands and grow them. The company would start an e-marketing group, and also explore the possibility of using social media for promotion. The company planned to launch a series of two-wheelers, starting this month with Phoenix, a 125-cc motorcycle, every quarter.
As regards the Indonesian subsidiary (PT TVS Motor Company Indonesia), he said at least a cash break-even was likely at the end of this fiscal.
