Tata Motors announced the roll out of its 500,000th passenger vehicle from the Sanand manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The plant achieved 100 per cent capacity utilisation in August this year and the automaker had announced then that it was in the process of achieving the 500,000th production milestone in October this year. The Sanand factory that commenced operations in June 2010, has seen a spike in production with popular models like the Tata Tiago and Tigor alongside the Nano, with the former models contributing immensely to the increase in production at the plant. At present, the plant contributes about 60 per cent of Tata's total manufacturing for passenger vehicles. The Tata Tigor was launched in an updated version earlier this month, which was the 500,000th vehicle to roll out.
Also Read: Tata's Sanand Plant To Cross 500,000 Production Mark By October 2018
Speaking about the achievement, Tata Motors -President, President, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Mayank Pareek said, “We, at Tata Motors, have been working aggressively towards our core strategy of Turnaround 2.0, aiming to ‘Win sustainably in PVs'. A lean manufacturing process plays a key role in our growth strategy enabling the Sanand plant to contribute around 60 per cent of the overall PV production. We are extremely proud of achieving this milestone within our planned timeline. This is the result of the hard-work put in by our dedicated workforce. The plant has evolved to become a modern, state-of-the-art facility and is playing a pivotal role meeting aspirations of Tiago and Tigor customers.”
Tata Motors - Executive Director & COO, Satish Borwankar said, “The Sanand plant has evolved over the years. From being a single model plant, Sanand has grown into a multi-model plant and is on a roll since the introduction of Tiago. We have achieved WCQ Level 3 and the operational efficiencies are at a high. We are delighted to celebrate this milestone and my best wishes to the team for many more such feats.”
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Spread over 1100 acres of land, Tata's Sanand plant was initially commissioned for the Nano project but was later reworked to accommodate other new small cars as part of the company's Turnaround 2.0 strategy. At present, the plant manufactures 21 variants of the cars with 150 vehicle combinations. The factory also produces the Revotron 1.2-litre petrol in manual and automatic guise, along with the 1.05-litre Revotorq diesel. Other engines produced at the plant include the 624 cc MPFI petrol and the 1.2-litre NGTc Petrol engines. The Sanand plant also produces the Tata Tigor electric vehicle for commercial applications and is being exclusively supplied for the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) order.
Also Read: Tata Harrier Bookings Open
With its small products showing strong growth, Tata Motors is now looking to tap into the SUV potential and is in the process of introducing the Harrier SUV. Bookings for the Tata Harrier have begun and the Hyundai Creta rival will make its debut next month. The SUV will be launched by early 2019.
