We often read in the news & magazines about different innovations, features & philosophies used by various Auto manufacturers.
Something that relates Japanese car manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, Suzuki (Maruti) to Reliability & Quality, Italian car manufacturers like Lamborghini & Ferrari to Performance & Art, European car manufacturers like Audi, Merc, BMW to Luxury & State of the art Technology. Americans for Muscle cars, V8’s, Jeeps & Hummvees. That makes me wonder where do we stand globally? Is it only about small hatchbacks & getting 25kmpl fuel economy? Is it only about cheap cars that can seat 7 people?
Currently we can only talk about Mahindra & TATA as major Indian Auto giants. There was a time when Mahindra used to make jeeps & Tata Used to make trucks & Sumos. Decades are passed now we have some nice line up of vehicles from both of these manufacturers. Some of the Mahindra models are really great, but, still we have not received the Global recognition that we deserve & the reason behind that can be lack of advanced technology & lack of safety features etc... Not to mention the after sales support locally (Bad) & globally (Worst)
Was going through a thread here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...n-cut-too.html
It seems that after Mr. Ratan Tata, TATA motors may or may not face some serious troubles. But going by their current product portfolio (excluding JLR), to be honest (IMHO), there isn't much to talk about. Though there is some news regarding some new platform from TATA which is in R&D Stage, there are no more details on the same & as of now there is nothing specific to mention. Sumo is seen as commercial, Xenons are not practical for everyone, Aria is a no show, Indigo & Indicas are ageing. Nano hasn’t yet took off as expected. Recently refreshed Safari (Storme) is not that BRAND NEW launch either. The only saving graces for TATA’s are the ACE pick ups & other heavy duty trucks.
Talking about passion in Indian manufacturers, just remembered that there was an interview of Mr. Ratan Tata in 13th Anniversary issue of Autocar magazine (Sept-12 Issue). He himself states his disappointment with the Tata motors passenger car segment mentioning the fact that there is hardly any passion left.
Please find below excerpt:
“Another disappointment I cant get away from is the relative lack of passion I see in the company today in the passenger car area. I might be a little longwinded on this subject, but I have always felt that cars are emotive products that strike you with their design and their overall driving experience. They are enchanting things, which make you feel special.
A car is not a coffee wending machine, it’s a total experience. The market does not take whatever you give them; so unless you have at least one or two people in the company who have that passion, the desire for perfection, and truly see what an ideal customer wants, you just have another car company. The automotive business wont allow you to sustain yourself by being just another company. You have to be driven by passion to give a driving experience, you have to be attractive to your customer, it’s a bit of a romance.”
If he himself is aware of this, wonder what type of people are working in Auto industries. On this account, I would like to share one incident here. I can not name the person, but he is very passionate about his work & he actually felt like a fool when he tried to show & convince above words of Mr. Tata to his colleagues
. Not to mention the headache he had after that incident. Wonder how many such voices are killed due to some Top brasses of the company who favors sales & other nonsense thing over the basics of car manufacturing & customer needs. Simply manufacturing something with 4 wheels & marketing it as next big thing aint gonna cut it. Buyers now are smarter & more specific about their needs. Not to mention the steep competition from foreign brands. Despite their global success, almost all major automobile manufacturers can now be seen in India & their sales are increasing.
Just to give you an idea, here is an excerpt from Mr. Hiroshi Nakagawa (M.D. of TKM) from same issue:
The reliability of the products stem from deep within the hearts of the employees and not just the machines or processes that make them.”If there is one thing that defines Toyota quality, it is our people,” says Nakagawa
When a giant manufacturer states the importance of discipline & passion within their employees, I really cant understand, why cant “WE” do it better? Not to forget that these global manufacturer’s plants here have Indian work force only so we cant blame that. There is definitely something which Mr. Tata was pointing....
Hope they learn that fact & we see better days ahead.
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Note: All above opinions are personal & meant no disrespect to any of the Manufacturer or Customer of any of the company mentioned above.
Also the excerpts/ interview quotes are courtesy of Autocar Magazine (Sept-12 Issue) Copyright with respective owners]
The reason behind starting a new thread is to get opinions & views from fellow BHPians.
Dear Mods: Please move to appropriate section if not suitable here.