The Hindu Business Line : Nano vendors hold on to the dream

Chennai/New Delhi, Sept. 2 Amidst growing uncertainties on whether Nano will meet its launch deadline of October, vendors of the “dream car” seem to be bullish.

Dr Surinder Kapur, Managing Director and Chairman, Sona Koyo Steering Systems, said: “I am confident that Nano will be rolled out in October, even if in small quantities, and will meet the launch deadline. Mr Ratan Tata has promised and he is a man who knows how to keep his promise.”

However, he said that the company had indicated to stop its supplies at Singur for the time being.

An official from Amtek Auto also said that he was confident that Tata Motors would be able to roll out the much-awaited model as per its plan.

Another vendor said that the company continued to procure parts in the same proportion as it had earlier ordered at its purchasing office in Pune. The official said, “Even now, they are so particular about the supplies that they do not even accept one unit less, which indicates the confidence that the company has in the volumes despite all the troubles.”

If the Tatas were to exit Singur, it would be a setback to a major innovation in the automobile industry and possibly delay in the launch of the Nano, according to Mr B. Santhanam, Managing Director, Saint-Gobain Glass India. He was confident that the Tatas would regroup and rapidly get their plans back in place. It would be a setback in time in terms of a large-scale launch, though the company may be able to do it on schedule in a small way.

Mr Santhanam felt that it would have been nice to have the car by the year end, particularly in the context of the drop in passenger car sales. The Nano would set the industry’s “spirits up”.

Mr R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, said that it is unfortunate that the politics of the State have come in the way of an extremely important project for the country. He hoped that the issue could be sorted out without further delay.

The Nano project is far too important for not only the automobile industry but also the country. It is also important to send the correct signals to the domestic and international investors. What is happening is that wrong signals are coming out. “Uncertainty is always an extremely worrisome thing,” Mr Seshasayee said.

The FICCI President, Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said a possible pull out is unfortunate and wished that the dispute had not reached this point. “I believe it need not have (reached such a level) if there had been better and more open dialogue between the investors, the Government and the local community.”

The Tata Motor ADR opened at $10.04, which is also the day’s high, but fell to $9.69 after the Tata’s announcement. At 8.30 p.m. IST, the ADR was hovering around $9.94 against Friday’s close of $9.86.

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Nano suppliers also to pull out if Tatas shift from Singur

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