Tata Motors bets on new models, network expansion to sustain double-digit growth

Tata Motors is confident of maintaining double-digit growth in its passenger vehicles sales in the coming quarters.

The company’s passenger vehicle sales have grown by 18 per cent at 167,208 units during the April 2017 and January 2018 period compared with industry growth of eight per cent. In February, Tata’s PV volumes posted a whopping 45 per cent (at 17,771 units).

S N Barman, Vice-President – Sales and Network, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors told BusinessLine on the sidelines of the launch of Zest Premio (priced at ₹746,800, ex-showroom, Chennai), a special edition of its compact sedan Zest, “All our recent launches – Tiago, Tigor, Hexa and Nexon – are doing well. Sales of each model have been increasing gradually.”.

Its compact SUV Nexon is reported to be doing well as per the company’s plans. Its current sales rate is over 4,000 units a month and the company sees an opportunity to increase it to over 6,000 units in the near term and more later.

With Nexon, Tata’s UV sales have zoomed to 38,020 units in the 10-month period of this fiscal against 13,946 units in the year-ago period.

Also, hatchback Tiago’s monthly volumes have grown to 7,000-7,500 units now from 3,500-4,000 units at launch in 2016.

With the new Zest Premio, Tata Motors hopes to increase the monthly sales from the present 2,500-3,000 units. Zest is 4-star rated for safety by the Global NCAP, a UK-based safety and testing organisation.

Barman said the expansion of its dealer network and changes at the existing dealerships will also support the growth.

Presently, about 84 per cent of its sales is in the personal transportation segment, while the rest are sold in the fleet segment. The ratio was the reverse before the launch of new models.

COMMENT NOW