Tatas set to roll in Daewoo trucks

Tata Motors Ltd, the country's leading truck maker, which acquired Daewoo commercial vehicle division in South Korea early this year, plans to introduce its heavy duty trucks in India in the next 12 months.

These 200-400 horse power trucks with 49-tonne freight capacity will be launched in India and select countries as part of Tata's strategy to enter the global transportation market.

According to Ravi Kant, Tata Motors executive director for commercial business units, "In the next 12 months, we will ship Daewoo trucks into India from our Korean plant, acquired this February. Our intention is to provide heavy duty logistics solutions to the Indian transport sector and compete with global players like Volvo."

Kant was speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the 9th International Symposium on Logistics, being held here at the IIM-B campus.

After it acquired Daewoo truck unit at a cost of $100 million, the company introduced a new truck "Novas" in the Korean market, for which it is getting a good response.

"In view of its initial success in the Korean market, we are planning to launch Novas in select countries,", Kant stated.

The truck-making arm of bankrupt Korean chaebol Daewoo Motors is the second largest manufacturer of heavy duty vehicles with a capacity of 20,000 units per annum.

Highlighting logistics as being one of the key areas to cut costs, Kant said, "Globalisation is leading to decentralisation and competition. We need to cut cost to compete in the global market place. Logistics is one such area where we can cut cost."

Tata Motors has developed an accurate econometric forecast technique for better supply and logistics. As a result, the company has managed to reduced outbound material by 23 per cent and export outbound efficiency by 25-30 per cent.