The Hindu Business Line : TVS Motor plans 2 units in Asean region

Mr Venu Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Motor Company, at the launch of the TVS Centra, a 100 cc, 4-stroke motorbike in Chennai on Monday. — Shaju John

Chennai , Jan. 5

TVS Motor Company plans to set up two production centres in the Asean region — rather than only one, as announced earlier. The company's Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Venu Srinivasan, told Business Line on Monday that the company is considering both Indonesia and Thailand.

"I cannot say which one will come first, but whichever (plant) comes first, the other will follow quickly," he said.

There has been some delay in the company firming up plans for its overseas production bases — it was earlier expected that the company might be able to make an announcement in September 2003. But, the booming domestic market demanded more management time.

However, there is another reason why TVS Motor could not finalise its plans about an overseas production facility earlier — the company has now realised that it might have to develop a new vehicle for the Indonesian market.

The Indonesian market seems to prefer a `step-thru' vehicle (like the Honda Street). TVS Motor does not have a step-thru in its stable — it would have to develop one afresh for Indonesia.

The company spent about Rs 100 crore on developing its recently-launched motorcycle, the TVS Centra.

Would then a new `step-thru' cost a similar amount? According to the company's President, Mr C.P. Raman, it would not. He said that the company is looking at how to design the new vehicle so that it can use many of the components that go into the existing vehicles. This way, the company would need to spend less on designing and tooling components exclusively for the step-thru.

"We are also trying to see what we can buy locally (in Indonesia)," Mr Raman said.

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