Telco Jamshedpur may handle Daewoo trucks

Daewoo trucks made in Jamshedpur!

Although it may sound incredible today, Tata Motors could soon add a line here for manufacturing two Daewoo truck models at its Jamshedpur plant.

This was revealed by a section of officials here after their meeting with the Tata Motors director (motors) Ravi Kant at Tata Steel's guest house at Dimna here. The automobile giant recently acquired the ailing Daewoo's South Korean commercial vehicle operations.

Company officials said Kant held talks with executives from different departments. However, no official confirmation was forthcoming.Sources said discussions were held on the possibility of rolling out the trucks from the Tata Motors plant here, the oldest unit of the company. The company has two more plants at Pune and Lucknow.

"Discussions ranged from the possibilities of manufacturing the new models of Korean vehicles in the city unit of the company to further improving the quality of the product. The deliberations lasted for over four hours," the officials disclosed on the condition of anonymity.

Tata Motors has two assembly lines in Jamshedpur for manufacturing its heavy vehicles. The official said a new assembly line would be installed for the Daewoo trucks.

Kant made an on-the-spot assessment of plants I and II and the outer complex of the company. These were the three possible venues within the company for setting up the third assembly line. "It is yet to be decided where the new assembly line would come up. A final decision is expected to be taken shortly," the official said.

Initially, the company will import knocked down vehicles from Daewoo Motors and assemble them at the Jamshedpur unit. "As a begining, the company will make a small number of Korean trucks. The number will go up if there is sufficient demand for them in the market," said sources.

Officials expected demand for the high-powered Daewoo trucks to be huge in view of the new highways being built.

Kant stressed the need to make its mark as a global player in the transport sector.

"He made it clear that there should not be any compromise on quality as Tata Motors has set its eyes on becoming one of the foremost global players in the sector," sources said.