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Commercial Vehicles

The domestic demand for Commercial Vehicles was volatile through the year, as a result of Government and Regulatory announcements - e.g. Goods and Service Tax (GST), demonetization, emissions change from BS-III to BS-IV etc. Within the domestic market, the Company sold 3,24,175 Commercial Vehicles, a marginal fall of 0.8% from Fiscal 2016. While the overall growth of Commercial Vehicles for the Company has been muted, some specific segments like M&HCV tipper (Construck), Buses and Pickup have seen strong growth during Fiscal 2017.

Some of the highlights for the year were:

  • Unveiled its very first Brand Ambassador – Akshay Kumar in December 2016. He will be the face of the entire CVBU range going forward.
  • The Xenon Yodha Pickup was launched in January 2017. A reliable new Pickup with high levels of performance and lower operating costs, it has been very well received and is gaining acceptance from customers.
  • Launched a range of state of the art buses running on alternate fuels including Electric, Hybrid and LNG. An order for 25 hybrid buses to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is in the process of being fulfilled.
  • The Magic Mantra SCV Passenger Vehicle with superior performance was launched to augment the existing Magic and Iris models in the last mile connectivity segment.
  • The Magna Bus Coach was introduced as the next-generation coach for inter-city people movement. Feedback on the product has been encouraging.
  • In the M&HCV segment several new products were launched – Ultra 1518 truck, LPK 1615 tipper, LPT 3718 Pusher Lift Axle rigid truck and a further extension of the SIGNA range of Tractors. Offered in various configurations, the SIGNA range of Commercial Vehicles is engineered and built to offer M&HCV buyers a newly designed cabin with proven Tata Motors aggregates for a world-class trucking experience.
  • Launched a refreshed version of the Tata Loyalty Program with a unique cover of Rs. 10 lakhs accidental insurance for five years for the driver – a first of its kind in the industry, plus a host of benefits to enable customers to accumulate points for every spend along with many more attractive options for redeeming points accrued.
  • This year, the Company won four prestigious awards at the Apollo CV Awards:
    • Tata Armoured Personnel Carrier - winners of the Special CV Application of the Year award.
    • MCV tipper of the Year award was won by Tata Prima 2528.K
    • Tata DLT double-deck tractor (trailer) carrier won the CV application builder of the Year award
    • Tata Signa 4923.S tractor won the HCV tractor cargo carrier of the Year award.
    • Dealership of the Year Award- Cargo Motors Pvt. Ltd.
  • Dipper Campaign-Use Dipper At Night – an innovative campaign to bring awareness amongst the truck driver community for safe practices has been extremely well received and acknowledged through various awards such as the CANNES 2016 - 2 awards – a first for the TATA Group, SPIKES ASIA 2016 awards, and the EFFIES 2016 award.
  • Organized the Prima Truck Racing Championship Season 4, which drew in over 30,000 spectators. The highlights this year were the inclusion of FIA's European Truck Racing Championship (ETRC) drivers in addition to the current crop of racers from the British Truck Racing Association (BTRA), the first female truck driver and an expansion of the Indian Truck Driver Racing Training Program called the "T1 Racer Program". The T1 Racer Program (TRP) is a program started in 2016 to identify regular Indian truck drivers and train them to become racers. This is the second year of the program. This year also saw the unveiling of a 1,000 bhp truck, which will feature as the racing platform for future editions.
  • In order to promote various applications on the Company's products, a series of campaigns have been organized across the country:
    • Har Business ka ACE- Fully Built expo – Pan India 34 expos covering 14,437 customers conducted to showcase the versatility of the Tata SCV platform and leverage the many applications for use by the customers. It has been well received as customers look towards buying ready to use solutions from the Company for enhancing their business.
    • Construck Mahotsav – covered 13 important locations in East India with participation from more than 5,500 customers. This exclusive event to showcased the entire range of construction and mining vehicles to leverage the growing demand for such vehicles.
    • Truck World in 2016-17 – Organized Truck World Exhibition with a full range of over 35 different models displayed and visited by more than 13,000 customers across some of the key trucking centers in the country such as Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Guntur, Kanpur and Delhi.
    • Tata 407- 30 Year Celebration – More than 35,000 customers participated in this campaign over two months. The iconic Tata 407 celebrated 30 years and it continues to be the best selling product in the category of LCV trucks. Customers across the country were felicitated for their support in making this one of the most successful brands in the Commercial Vehicle Industry.
    • HAMARE BUS KI BAT HAI – This unique programme reached out to the support staff of school buses across India, helping them improve their efficiency at work. Since it's inception, the programme has reached out to 2,313 schools in 299 cities/towns covering over 96,586 school bus staff.

Passenger Vehicles

The domestic Passenger Vehicle Industry grew by 9.6% during Fiscal 2017. Correction in fuel prices and easing financing cost has resulted in lower operating cost, which should further aid domestic growth in near to medium term. Industry sales crossed 3 million milestone for the first time during the year. The Company's Passenger Vehicles sales were higher by 23.5% at 157,020 vehicles, registering a 5.2% market share. The Company sold 137,175 cars (higher by 28.4%) and 19,845 utility vehicles and vans, (lower by 2.2%). In the Utility Vehicle segment, competitive activity intensified with multiple new launches mainly in the soft-roader category. The Company has taken various initiatives to improve its performance such as product refreshes/launch programs, operational efficiency, dealer effectiveness, working capital management and restructuring customer facing functions.

Some of the highlights of this year's performance were:

  • Product launches continued during the Fiscal.
  • Tiago was launched in April 2016, with latest technological advancements and design engineering.
  • Tata Hexa was launched in January 2017, with Automatic and Manual Gearbox, new design language and class leading features.
  • Tigor Compact Sedan was launched towards the end of March 2017.

The above new product launches were in-line with the Company's objective of taking the brand to a higher level, while making it relevant for the younger buyer. The Company continued to focus on building brand strengths, refreshing products and enhancing sales and service experience. The Company expanded it's new look, stylish, tech savvy best in class flagship Passenger Vehicle showrooms, for superior customer experience.

The Company has signed a contract for supply of 3,192 units of the Tata Safari Storme 4×4 to the Indian Armed Forces, under a new category of vehicles – GS800 (General Service 800).

Exports

The Company exported 64,221 vehicles (Fiscal 2016: 58,058 vehicles) comprising 60,184 units of Commercial Vehicles and 4,037units of Passenger Vehicles during Fiscal 2017.

Export of Commercial Vehicles grew by 11.3% in Fiscal 2017 with 60,184 units exported compared to 54,052 in Fiscal 2016, crossing 60,000 shipments for the first time and the highest ever till date. The traditional markets of SAARC remained stronger than last year growing by 21.5% with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal contributing to the growth. However, the mid-term duty change in Sri Lanka and the liquidity crisis in Nepal impacted the growth momentum. The reconstruction and the easing up of pent up demand led to record shipments to Nepal in Fiscal 2017. Low crude oil prices, Middle East geo-political situation, currency devaluations and political strife cast a big shadow over the Company's strong markets of Middle East and Africa this year, with the exception of the newly opened market of Tunisia which grown more than 100%. The Company was able to grow market shares in the key markets of Nepal and Bangladesh. In Fiscal 2017, the Company successfully bagged and executed several prestigious orders including 553 units Xenon pickups for PoS, Malaysia; 537 units of buses to Ivory Coast as a part of their public transportation system; 25 units of Prima in Oman to Al Tasneem; 25 units of ULTRA trucks in Bangladesh to Pran RFL; 32 units of ULTRA trucks in Malaysia to PoS and 39 units of ULTRA Buses in Nepal to Mahanagar Yatayat. Some of the key events in Fiscal 2017 were the launch of Tata ULTRA Trucks in Kenya and Tanzania; ULTRA Bus in Tanzania; Tata Prima in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bhutan. As a part of its strategy to expand its global footprint, the Company also launched the Commercial Vehicle brand in Vietnam and Bolivia. In Fiscal 2017, the Company achieved a key milestone of 1,000 Ultra retails in export markets.

During the period Fiscal 2017, the Company exports of Passenger Vehicles stood at 4,037 units, compared to 4,006 units in the Fiscal 2016. Sales in Sri Lanka declined considerably due to increase in import duties and tightening of retail financing. However, this was compensated by the improved sales in Nepal and South Africa with a growth of 120% and 30% respectively.

In Nepal, the launch of Tiago has helped the Company to improve its sales in the hatch segment whereas increased sales of Zest helped to gain the leadership position in the compact sedan segment. The Sumo continues to be the 'Number One' selling brand in UVs in Nepal. In South Africa, aggressive fleet sales push helped us to increase its sales over last year. In Bangladesh, the Company has improved its sales on account of launch of Nano GenX and an institutional order for Sumo Ambulance.