Tata Motors Managing Director Guenter Butschek has appealed for help from its workers as India's leading commercial vehicle maker faces a "crisis situation" amid rising competition at home.
The company is facing increased competition in India from Volvo Trucks and Daimler.
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The Nikkei news agency reported that in a letter to employees, Butschek said the performance of the commercial vehicles business is "really worrisome."
The commercial vehicles division of Tata Motors is making losses and suffering in the Indian market as European OEMs up their investments. It is losing market share.
"While there is a range of reasons for the decline (in sales)…the fact of the matter is that we failed when it came to reading the market properly, to responding flexibly to changes and to providing new products — advanced and white space — on time," Butschek wrote in his letter. "There is an urgent need for us to arrest this slide."
Cost reductions
As part of the plan to turn around the business, Butschek said the immediate priorities are a "rigorous" cost reduction drive across categories, regaining market share, "zero tolerance" to product launch delays and addressing all supply constraint issues.
Butschek said the next three months are "absolutely critical" for Tata Motors.
"We have set an extremely aggressive and challenging task to improve our bottom line," he said in the letter. "This means it will not be business as usual."
