IOC fire hits Bosch, forces closure at Tata CV plant in Pune

Tata Motors which last Tuesday began distribution of its GPS-enabled Prima range of World Trucks - the Prima 4028 S - today said it would shut its commercial vehicles plant in Pune for three days as supplies from Bosch have ceased in the aftermath of the IOC depot fire in Jaipur that ravaged hundreds of neighbouring units and caused losses of over Rs1,500 crore.

Tata Motors will shut down its commercial vehicle (CV) plant in Pune for three-days as the IOC depot fire has hit one of its suppliers of fuel pumps - Bosch Limited - has been affected by the IOC fire.

The Bosch plant, which is just four km away from the IOC site, supplies fuel pumps to Tata Motors and several other auto firms.

With huge inventories both at the factory end and the distributor level, Bosch has been the sole supplier of fuel pumps to the entire CV segment, including Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland.

Tata Motors, however, said the supply crunch will not have any great material impact on the CV space as of now, although, going forward, there will be a minor slippage. This, however, will not affect Tata Motors annual CV target, it added.

Reports quoting vendor sources said the real reason behind Tata Motors closure is shortage of fuel pumps.  The decision was meant to avoid system glut at the assembly level, reports pointed out.

Reports also said the impact of Bosch closure on Ashok Leyland could not be assessed, as there is no of dealer level inventory assurance for Ashok Leyland as in the case of Tata Motors.

The IOC fire in Jaipur has hit other auto ancillary units in the electrical and lightening segments as well and the impact on the auto industry as a whole is yet to be assessed.