Tata Motors to add 400 new dealers by year-end

Tata Motors today said it would increase its dealership count from the existing 250 to 650 by the end of this year to cater to the demands of a diverse market in the country.

"The company started this year with dealership network of 250. By the end of this year, we would be adding 400 dealerships, taking the total count to 650 dealer outlets," Tata Motors Vice President Commercial R Ramakrishnan said.

Ramakrishnan was here to launch Tata Aria 4x2.

"We are going to add 300 dealerships exclusively for Nano, predominantly in tier-III markets [towns with population below two lakhs], by the end of this year," he said.

"For Nano, we expect a lot of interest in tier-III and IV cities as well as in rural markets... So considering various aspects we have to look at a network which can cater to this diverse market," Ramakrishnan said.

He further stated that the company would have full range dealership in metros, while dealerships in tier-II, tier-III and rural markets will cater to market specific demands.

He said there is a market for utility vehicles in tier-II and tier-II markets. Hence, the company will add "another 100 dealerships exclusively for the utility vehicles range like Safari, Venture, Sumo, Aria... By end of this year."

The company had introduced Tata Aria 4x4, the high end luxurious crossover range in October last year.

"We have been selling 250 odd units per month and so far 2,000 Aria's are on road," Ramakrishnan said, adding that there is lot of potential in this segment.

Aria competes with vehicles like Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour and Chervolet Captiva.

Replying to a query on the impact of hike in interest rates, he said, "Industry has been affected by the hike in interest rates which have gone up from 9.5% to 13.5%. A part of the market is finding it difficult to cope up with it," he said.