The Hindu Business Line : Tata Motors drives into Thailand with Xenon

Bangkok, March 27 Fresh from its conquest of the iconic Jaguar and Land Rover brands, Tata Motors drove into the competitive Thai pick-up truck market today launching the Xenon at the Bangkok Motor Show.

The 1-tonne Xenon that sports a 2.2-litre engine and comes in two versions, will meet some high profile competition from the likes of Isuzu, Toyota and Honda which have all been in this market for the last few decades. To start with, the Xenon will be imported in a completely knocked down (CKD) form from India and assembled in the plant of Thonburi Automotive Assembly Co with which Tata Motors has formed a joint venture.

Tata Motors (Thailand) Ltd has invested about Rs 130 crore in the joint venture where it holds 70 per cent stake. Thonburi will be a contract assembler of the trucks and will bring to the table its knowledge of the local market.

By the end of the first year, 40 per cent of the Xenon would have been indigenised and this level will gradually increase. Currently, the body panels for the single and double cab pick-ups along with engine and gear box are sourced from the Pune plant of Tata Motors.

‘Created for Thailand’

Speaking at a press conference that included a group of Indian journalists here at the invitation of the company, Mr Ravi Kant, Managing Director, said that the Xenon was designed after considerable market research and customer study in Thailand. “It is not a product created in India and transported to Thailand; it is created in Thailand for its market,” he said.

Thailand, with an annual sale of about 4,00,000 units, is the second-largest market for pick-up trucks in the world after the US. In the first year, Tata Motors (Thailand) hopes to sell around 5,000 units with the stated objective of capturing 5 per cent share of the market in the next 5 years, according to Mr Ajit Venkataraman, CEO.

It has already started taking orders and first deliveries are expected to be made in a month. Tata Motors (Thailand) will market the trucks on its own and has already appointed 20 dealers.

Eventually, the company hopes to export from here to the Asean countries taking advantage of the Asean Free Trade Zone concessions.

In race for Eco car project

Tata Motors is one of seven bidders for the “Eco car” project being promoted by the Thailand government. The project involves the design and manufacture of a car of less than 1.4 litre engine capacity that is Euro IV compliant and emits less than 120 gm of Co2 per km.

The minimum capacity and investment of such a project should be 1,00,000 units and 5 billion Baht (approximately Rs 600 crore) respectively.

The Thailand government is offering several concessions for such a project including income-tax holiday and duty-free imports. Amongst those who have applied for the project are Honda, Suzuki, Nissan and Toyota. The Thailand government is now processing the applications.

Asked whether the Nano will be considered for the project by Tata Motors, Mr Ravi Kant said that the company was working at what will be an appropriate vehicle and thorough market research needed to be done on it. Interestingly, the overall size of Thailand’s car market is only 2,00,000 units per annum which means that the company producing the “Eco car” will have to perforce look at exports given the minimum capacity of 1 lakh units that it has to put up.

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