Tata Motors rolls out 10 lakh cars from Sanand plant

Tata Motors rolled out its one-millionth car from its Sanand facility in Gujarat. The production milestone comes 65 months and 30 days, or a little less than five-and-a-half years, since the company produced its 5,00,000th made-in-Sanand car in October 2018. This shows Tata Motors' growth in recent years as the first 5 lakh cars from the Sanand plant had taken eight years.

1. Tata’s Sanand plant produces all versions of the Tiago and Tigor
2. Second plant in Sanand, acquired from Ford, to add 3 lakh units per annum
3. Tata Motors' sales in FY2024 could hit 5.75 lakh, including 75,000 EVs

Tata Sanand plant production

Set up in 2010, the Sanand plant is spread across 1,100 acres – 741 acres (Tata Motors) and 359 acres (Vendor Park). It has over 6,000 direct and indirect employees, and has been instrumental in Tata Motors’ growth and success in the passenger vehicle market. The mechanised plant houses a press line, weld shop, paint shop, assembly line and powertrain shop, and offers the flexibility to produce automatic, CNG and all-electric versions of the Tiago and Tigor, including the fleet-only Xpres-T EV. According to the company, a single model plant has been successfully converted into a multi-model plant churning out three models with 100 percent assets management and utilisation.

Commenting on the one-million production milestone, Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said, “We are extremely proud to roll out the one-millionth car from our Sanand plant. This facility has been pivotal in bolstering our growth story in India by responding to market needs promptly." Chandra added, "We acknowledge and thank our employees, suppliers, channel partners, and most importantly, the Government of Gujarat for their unwavering support, which has been integral to achieving this milestone.”

Tata Motors now has additional manufacturing capacity at its second plant in Sanand, which was acquired from Ford India. January 10, 2024 saw the first car rollout from the refurbished facility. This new plant will unlock an additional manufacturing capacity of 3 lakh units per annum, which is scalable to 4.2 lakh units per annum.

Tata Motors on track for sales record in FY2024

With 11 months of FY2024 over, Tata Motors is on track to achieve record fiscal-year sales. FY2023 (5,44,391 models) was its best yet and with cumulative sales of 5,22,539 units between April 2023-February 2024, the company is just 21,852 units shy of that figure, and should likely hit the 5,75,000-unit sales mark for FY2024.

In February 2024, the car and SUV manufacturer followed up its best-ever monthly sales performance in January 2024 (53,633 units) with wholesale despatches of 51,267 units in February 2024, up 20 percent YoY (February 2023: 42,862 units). This marks the second month in a row that the carmaker has clocked sales of over 50,000 units; sale of EVs has also increased by 30 percent to 6,923 EVs (February 2023: 5,318 EVs).

The company sells the Altroz, Tigor, Tiago, Nexon, Punch, Harrier and the Safari in India, and has capitalised on surging demand for its SUVs, particularly the Nexon and the Punch compact SUVs. What has benefitted the company’s growth over the past couple of years is that its portfolio covers petrol, diesel, CNG and electric powerplants, thereby considerably expanding its consumer reach compared to most of its rivals.

Another factor that has acted as a catalyst to Tata Motors’ accelerated growth is its first-mover advantage in India’s fast-growing electric vehicle market, where it has an over 70 percent market share. The company currently retails the Nexon EV, Tigor EV and Xpres-T (for fleet buyers), the Tiago EV and the recently launched Punch EV.

Tata Motors had last year targeted EV sales of 1,00,000 units in FY2024, however, this big number may not be achievable; nonetheless it is well set to clock cumulative sales of around 75,000 units. Its 11-month EV sales stand at 67,095 units, up by a strong 54 percent YoY. Given the monthly average of 6,100 units, March 2024 should help drive total EV sales beyond the 75,000-unit mark in FY2024.