Component shortage hits CV production at Tata Motors

Tata Motors said that it had slashed commercial vehicle (CV) production 5-10 per cent since January, due to shortage of key components like trucks/bus radial tyres.

Most CV manufacturers are facing the tyre shortage problem which is also there in the replacement market. Ashok Leyland, the other major domestic CV maker, has already reported a 20 per cent cut back in production due to the shortage. With most CV makers having expanded production to meet the growing demand, component vendors are hard pressed to meet the additional demand.

Speaking to Business Line on the sidelines of a conference on the company's defence business yesterday, Ravi Pisharody, president, commercial vehicles, Tata Motors said there was no one specific supplier causing the shortfall and most of the industry had been been affected for the last 1-2 months with the shortage of tyres.

He added that the company had to cut back production 5-10 per cent because of the shortage, however the company's sales numbers had not been affected. He said, in the given period, there was a shortage of a few items, but with February and March to come, the company was working with suppliers to make sure the shortage problem was resolved soon.

The largest domestic CV maker, with over 60 per cent of market share in the segment also said it would increase prices by 1-2 per cent to offset cost of new diesel engine technology. The new diesel technology would meet the new emission standards to come into effect from 1 April.

Pisharody also told the paper that with the new emission norms the tech and engineering that went into lower emission was different and this would certainly come at a cost. He added that the price hike in CVs would be in the range of 1-2 per cent, but would vary across products.