New Delhi, Mar 09: India's largest truck and bus maker Tata Engineering is readying to drive its vehicles into the booming Chinese market, a Tata group official said. The company plans to forge a joint venture with a Chinese automaker to either set up a manufacturing plant in that country or import semi-assembled vehicle kits from India, P G Shankar, head-international business, commercial vehicle business unit of Tata International told here. "China is very much on our focus. We have already started working on it and now we are formulating a strategy as to how to make an entry and continue in that market. We are very sure that we will be able to do something in a year or two," he said. Tata International is the overseas trading arm of the Rs 45,000 crore Tata group, one of India's largest corporate houses. "To continue in the Chinese market in the long term, it is preferable to have a joint venture with a local company as that market is restricted like India. We are presently scouting for one," Shankar added.
He said components could be sourced from the Chinese partner for use in Tata trucks and buses in that market.
He termed the Chinese commercial vehicle market as "booming" and said it was projected to grow to three million vehicles in the next 3-4 years from the present 1.2-1.3 million vehicles.
Bureau Report