With the imminent success tasted from the cheapest car phase Nano, Tata Motors is now mooting an idea to outsource the assembling it to other parties. This will be the first such “federal structure” of manufacturing a car. The company has plans to launch new Nano plant for production in the Q4 of this fiscal year(2010) and there is a proposal to appoint micro-assembly sites in the country to produce 10000 cars per year, said the company’s Vice-Chairman. Nano has fetched The Economist Innovation award 2009 and now is the time to make the car more domestic.
But the observers in the automotive industry feel that such a move by Tata Motor is a risky one in terms of brand reputation. The main concern for the brand image is the safety of the car as already three cases of firing were reported about Nano. This incident made the company press into a vigil move to check the cars already shipped and which are ready for delivery. Moreover, customers may not be willing to rely on such assembler even with the original brand , because the market is such that the buyer look for the profile of the company on par with the features of vehicle.
This is in addition to after sale service factor, for which the company becomes more dependable. The concept was originally conceived by Ratan Tata while talking about the Nano proposal four years ago but for the last two years, the company has been on search for manufacturing units like Singur in West Bengal, Sanand in Gujarat. Of these, Sanand plant will make its production during the Q4 with an initial capacity of 250000 units per year which may be increased to 350000. The Europe market will get the Nano in 2011 at the corresponding cheaper rates and there will be a clever move to grab the global potential, said the VC of the company.