Tata Sons Chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said that Tata Motors is ideally placed to expand its position in the Indian passenger vehicle market, according to a report from ETAuto. The chairman reportedly said this while addressing the employees at the customary 'All Hands Meet' on the first day of the fiscal year on Thursday. Traditionally, the chairman addresses employees from the Lakehouse at Tata Motors' facility in Pune. However, this time around it was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The annual event started with an address by Tata Motors Managing Director Guenter Butschek, followed by speeches from Chandrasekaran and Ratan Tata.
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By the end of fiscal 2021, Tata Motors emerged as the third-largest carmaker with a market share of 8-9 per cent.
As per ETAuto report, Chandrasekaran said he was not very hopeful of strong growth at the beginning of the year, which started with zero sales amid lockdown. Moreover, the Indian auto industry was already dealing with an economic slowdown and there also an overhang of the BS6 transition.
An employee who spoke to ETAuto quoted Chandrasekaran as saying, "Given the unpredictable times, the passenger vehicle business has performed extremely well exceeding the expectations. It was a challenging year, yet the company has performed well."
Further addressing the employees, he said, "We want the business to get into the dominant position. We are ideally placed to grow in the future and we should be aggressive to grab a higher share in the marketplace. We need to be aggressive in our approach, at the group level."
The homegrown automaker concluded the fiscal year 2021 on a positive note. Tata Motors had posted an overall decline of 30-40 per cent in both passenger and commercial sales in fiscal 2020. However, the company managed to bounce back and registered its highest sales in nine years in the passenger vehicle business. By the end of fiscal 2021, Tata Motors emerged as the third-largest carmaker with a market share of 8-9 per cent. Do note, it had a market share of around 5 per cent in fiscal 2020.
He further said, "We want the business to get into the dominant position. We are ideally placed to grow in the future and we should be aggressive to grab a higher share in the marketplace. We need to be aggressive in our approach, at the group level. We have a huge opportunity ahead of us, it is up to the company employees to make the most of the opportunity presented by the market," the person, among several employees.
Chandrasekaran said, "We want the business to get into the dominant position."
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He also reminded employees that it was the push from Ratan Tata that helped the company grab the government's order for electric vehicles which gave a kickstart to its EV business. He added, "The only way to play a significant role in the industry is by playing a dominant role. There are many areas where Tata Motors can take lead - like EVs and safety, and shape the market.
Moreover, the booking momentum at Tata Motors passenger vehicle business continues as all models command a waiting period of around 6-8 weeks. On the other hand, the commercial vehicle space is also expected to see a strong sequential recovery as the company hopes to grow over 30 per cent this year.
