Vendors trim output as Tata shuts Nano plant for 3 weeks

With Tata Motors shutting down its Nano manufacturing plant in Sanand for three-six weeks, vendors situated in the vendor park have also scaled down production.

“We too have had to curtail production. Frequency of orders from Tata Motors has been reducing due to high inventory at their Nano plant. As a result, we had seen inventory piling up at our plants,” said a vendor supplying electrical parts to the Sanand plant.

While vendors cite lack of demand for shutting of the plant, Tata Motors stated that the Sanand plant has been shut for “maintenance purposes”.

A Tata Motors spokesperson said, “As with all our plants, the Sanand facility is closed as per annual planning for routine upgrades, maintenance and adding of tooling flexibility for new variants. The periods for these kinds of maintenance work may vary and range from three to six weeks.” According to another vendor who supplies engine parts, the Nano plant had been witnessing reduced capacity utilisation for quite sometime now. This resulted in a decrease in the orders to suppliers.

“We have not been running the plant as frequently as earlier. We manufactured 5,000 sets of parts, which are yet to be fully supplied to the Nano plant. Yet, we have to continue incurring fixed costs on power and manpower, among others,” another vendor said.

However, according to the company, its new Nano Twist has seen improved demand.

“We have seen a good pick-up of the new Nano Twist and we are beginning to see stronger retail sales with its repositioning as the smart city car,” Tata Motors’ spokesperson further stated.

In 2013-14, Tata Motors produced 21,358 Nano models against the plant capacity of 250,000 vehicles.

OUT OF GAS

* According to a vendor who supplies engine parts, the Nano plant had been witnessing reduced capacity utilisation for quite some time now