Tata Motors to downsize vendor base to boost car quality

Many Tata cars are not known to age well with various parts failing to function robustly after a couple of years. The variable quality level of parts used in Tata cars is said to be the cause of this issue, leading many Indian car buyers to migrate to more reliable and robustly built cars from competing brands. Under the HORIZONEXT strategy that Mr Karl Slym, the managing director of Tata Motors, unveiled recently, improvements in overall quality levels and service experiences were promised.

One such measure to improve quality levels on Tata cars begins right at the vendor/supplier level. Tata Motors has a large number of vendors, many of them supplying the same part. This results in variable quality levels, leading to inconsistent quality in Tata cars. To solve this issue, Mr Slym has embarked on a vendor downsizing mission. Tata Motors now aims to have only one vendor for each part, giving it better control over part quality. 

The vendor downsizing exercise will happen in a phased manner. In the next four years or so, Tata Motors plans to reduce its vendor base from the current 1,200 plus to about 300-400 vendors. If this exercise is successful and if Tata Motors manages to squeeze out better part quality from vendors, they hope to show a dramatic increase in quality levels on their cars. From being stuck with a taxi image, cars from the Tata Motors stable could once again find favour with car buyers in India. 

Sales of the Indian car and utility vehicle maker have been slipping in the passengers car space. From once being a strong contender to unseat Hyundai from second place in the Indian car market, Tata Motors now finds itself in fifth place, with Mahindra and Toyota also overtaking it in terms of sales numbers. Apart from boosted quality levels, Tata Motors says they also plan to build newer cars that actually excite the car buyer into making a purchase. The Advanced Modular Platform is a step in that direction. 

Source LiveMint