Click to play videoNew Delhi: The economic slowdown seems to have caught up with Tata Motors. Sources tell CNN-IBN that the company's car production plant in Pune could see a shutdown after a slowdown in sales and an inventory pileup. However, Tata Motors hasn't confirmed this officially.
However, it is believed that the shutdown will have no impact on the production of Tata’s small car Nano.
On Wednesday, Tata Motors said that it was shutting down the Jamshedpur truck plant from Thursday till November 9.
In a statement, India’s largest commercial vehicle maker, said it will take a block closure at Jamshedpur from November 6 to 8, to match production with demand of vehicles produced at the plant.
In October, the company reported 29 per cent decline in commercial vehicles sales at 19,154 units, against 27,103 units in the same month last year.
Tata Motors commands a share of 64 per cent in this segment, according to figures provided by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
Slump in auto industry
Big festivals like Eid, Dushera, Diwali and even Dhanteras that usually boost car sales have not had much of an impact this year. Even big showrooms saw fewer customers as people just did not seem to have enough money to buy their dream cars.
Major car makers saw a fall in sales for the month of October.
- Maruti was down 7.1 per cent.
- Tata Motors was down 20 per cent.
- Honda Siel Cars India was down over 72 per cent since the Honda City ZX's production has been phased out and the deliveries of the all-new City will begin from November 2008.
- Mahindra was down almost 18 per cent.
But the two gainers in these tough times were Hyundai and General Motors due to the success of the Hyundai i-10 and the Chevrolet Spark.
Analysts predict that the coming months will continue to be tough for the automobile sector.
Editor of Auto Bild Yogendra Pratap Singh said, “Auto industry follows the swings of the economy. I don’t expect there to be a meltdown but yes, there will be rationalisation to cater to the demand. Car makers will have to provide solutions to the demand.”
Dealers say they will now have to come up with innovative options to sell as many cars as possible because the yearend is not far ahead. And starting a new year with old stock will only mean further pressure for the already ailing dealerships around the country.
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