Owing to plunging popularity and weak demand, Tata Motors, the country's largest automobile manufacturer, has decided to stop production at its Jamshedpur manufacturing unit, starting from November 29, 2012. The announcement came through a Tata Motors spokesperson, who confirmed the development and explained that the block closure was in line with drastic slowdown in demand of commercial vehicles manufactured by the company.
The Tata Motors' spokesperson was quoted as saying, “We do not want inventory pile-up at the dealers' end and wanted to adjust our production as per demand.”
Further, Chandrabhan Singh, General Secretary (GS), Telco Workers Union, confirmed the block closure at Jamshedpur production unit as well. He said that the decision has been framed as both cost cutting and precautionary measure, in order to keep up with the slackening demand of commercial vehicles, because of the prevalent slowdown in auto industry. Singh affirmed that Tata Motors' has assembled 5,000 units in October 2012, as against the usual production yield of close to 10,000 units per month.
Reportedly, Tata Motors had also effected a similar 3 day block closure earlier this month, between November 12 and November 14, 2012. The company's Jamshedpur production unit manufactures engines, heavy commercial vehicles along with cab and cowl. The demand for medium and heavy commercial vehicles in the Indian automobile market has dropped significantly over the past few months, which left Tata Motors with no option but to halt its operations at Jamshedpur. However, the year has almost ended, so doling out a few discounts might help the company in clearing out its excess inventory, besides recording some sales as well.
