Tata Motors: Continuous renewal

Tata Motors is one of the crown jewels of the Tata Group, India’s premier industrial house. This case is a sequel to “Tata Motors: Becoming a Global Contender”, IMD-3-1946, which described two major company decisions in 2008 – the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and the launch of the Tata Nano, the world’s most affordable car. This case describes how the two decisions panned out and brings the narrative up to 2013. In FY2013 the company had a turnover of INR 1,943 billion (Indian rupees) (US$34.7 billion), making it the largest automobile company in India. It had seen impressive growth from 2008 to 2013, with revenues more than quadrupling during that period. The lion’s share of this increase came from selling Jaguars and Land Rovers in international markets. While the company had done an excellent job of integrating JLR, its much hyped Nano launch was a disappointment. Competition in the Indian market for both commercial vehicles and cars had also increased since 2008. Tata Motors was fighting hard to maintain its lead in commercial vehicles competing against Daimler, Nissan and Mann; and in cars it was trying to regain market share from the #1 and #2 in the market, Suzuki and Hyundai respectively. Also, competition in the luxury segment meant JLR had to innovate continuously. This case describes the company’s strategy for strengthening its competitive position in both the domestic and international markets. It also describes how Tata Motors is attempting to renew its organization and talent pool to match its strategy.