Tata Motors need to tweak passenger car strategy: Slym

In the vibrant passenger car-segment in India, leading automobile manufacturer Tata Motors on Sunday said that there was a need to change the company's strategy, Tata Motors MD Karl Slym said.

"In passenger cars, we are not in a strong position. We have lost market share. There are segments that are booming in which we don't have products. On new products, new features, new launches, we have been rather quiet. We need to change that," Tata Motors MD Karl Slym told PTI on the sidelines of BCIM car rally in Myanmar.

Slym said that the company would adopt short, medium and long-term measures to address that. "In the short-term and I am talking in terms of months, there will be mild changes. In the medium-term, that is a year or a little longer, there will be drastic changes with new products. In the long-term, there will be a revision in the portfolio", Slym said.

Tata Motors, the vehicle sponsor for the rally from Kolkata to Kunming, was a dominant player in the commercial vehicle segment. "Tata Motors has a major market share in the commercial vehicle segment at 62 percent. We are a very dominant participant. It is important to continue to stay the leader. Our products and customer approach are important to retain leadership," Slym said.

Slamming the government for raising excise duties on SUVs in the Budget, Slym said, "The government believes it can gain more revenues by taxing SUVs. The only three sections doing well in India are diesel, SUVs and luxury cars," he said. "It's a shame that it is our approach. It's a shame that instead of trying to grow the industry, we are trying to penalise and the one that seems to satisfy customer-requirements," he said.

"The government, instead of trying to help some of the struggling segments, is seemingly trying to stifle segments that remain okay," Slym added. Slym, who was the former head of GM India before joining Tata Motors, said, "I believe it should be a free market for fuel anyway. There should not be any kind of regulation. So I am happy for that to happen (referring to the deregulation of fuel prices). But there should be a free market. There should be a market that allows people to choose," he observed.

"What I don't like is the levy on luxury cars, on SUVs. That should not be the case. You should not tax a segment specifically", Slym said.