No despair, economy is still strong: Ratan Tata
Says Nano is not a flop; rules out big acquisitions
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tatan, on Thursday, trod a different line, on perceived policy paralysis in the government, stating there was no need to be pessimistic because of the global uncertainties as the country’s economic fundamentals were still strong.
“We must stop pessimism...India’s (economic) fundamentals are correct and we should be striving for retaining growth rate,” he averred. “I must confess that it is a little disappointing to sometimes hear negative comments emanating from our business leadership or be told that government`s policies are causing slowdown and pessimism in the industrial sector.
On steps the government should take to improve sentiments, he suggested that it (government) must look at accelerating expenditure and create jobs which was slowing down partly due to the fiscal policy and late decision taken by various ministries. “If we focus on infrastructure it will be good not only for today but in the future as well.”
Further, he said, his company has no plans to go for big ticket acquisitions but indicated at setting up manufacturing facility of UK-based subsidiary Jaguar-Land Rover for the two iconic brands in India.
“We have no plans to shop around, nor do we have any specific brands that we want to acquire,” he said, adding we did not shop around for JLR. It just happened. We saw an opportunity that fitted our production area. We have some serious things to do with JLR.
Tata also disclosed that his company was in discussions with Fiat for engine supply and other joint venture possibilities. Acquisition of JLR in 2008 has put Tata Motors on the map of international market, he said, adding that 50-60 per cent revenues come from outside and the company has maintained its share in the Indian market.
On whether the group would be listing the JLR subsidiary separately on bourses, he replied in the negative and ruled out merging JLR brand with others. Early last year, Jaguar Land Rover, UK-based unit of Tata Motors Ltd, opened its first assembly plant in India at Pune to assemble sports utility vehicle Land Rover’s Freelander 2 from completely knocked down kits shipped from the Halewood manufacturing plant in Liverpool, UK.
JLR sells imported XJ, XF and XK sedans from the Jaguar range in India and the Freelander, Discovery and Range Rover SUVs from Land Rover. In 2008, Tata Motors had acquired Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford Motor Co for US$2.3 billion. Tata maintained that he did not consider Nano to be a flop. “I do consider that we have wasted an early opportunity... we will see a resurrection of this product as we move forward,” he said.
Tata said efforts were on the launch the Nano in Western Europe and USA. “I don’t think we were adequately ready with an advertising campaign, dealer network.....We believe the upgrade will sort out issues Nano will introduce variations of the Nano to move up in the value chain,” Tata observed on his dream car.
