Friday, July 18, 2008

The Fourth Base

Be prepared For A Long Race: This event has just begun. It’s a long distance race, where Indian players have to constantly evolve, rejig strategies and anticipate the future. So, one will need to think long-term and face critics who will contend that it’s impossible for India to become a car power. Such apprehensions are already being expressed. “As far as Brand India is concerned, India will be more towards local manufacturing and sales. India will still take some time as far as competing with western companies in their home markets is concerned,” says Bulle.

Adds Toyota’s Swami, “With the present legislations changing, it doesn’t make sense to launch a market-specific product as today, cars have to have a global appeal.” What he is implying is that the future of ‘Made-In-India, Made-For-India’ products is perhaps not too rosy. Finally, Jigar thinks that “to become a super power, there is still some time to go for India. People are still looking at India as a manufacturing base, and they believe that most of their production will be sold in India itself. We should be making cars purely for the luxury exports market to earn some much-needed credibility.”

Future government policies will surely play a critical role for India to become a global player in passenger cars. The duty structure needs to be overhauled, there needs to be some form of diplomatic efforts to push the India brand; remember how commerce minister Kamal Nath supported L. N. Mittal’s buyout bid for Arcelor, and the Indian government stood behind Tata, while he was taking over Corus.


Ashok Jainani, Head of Research, KSL India, talks about another area where government intervention is required. “The growth in the auto and auto components sectors goes hand in hand. The three major ingredients of auto components segment are the cheap availability of raw materials, power and labour. In the case of labour, we do have an edge, and the cost of materials is almost the same across the globe. But power in India is expensive. If we can somehow bring it down, then we can simply multiply our edge in car manufacturing.” However, this entails serious reforms in the power sector.

Even if the government manages it, India Inc. will need to think differently if it wishes to become a global player in any sector. In the past, we have seen several opportunities pass us by despite the distinct advantages that brand India enjoyed. For example, India could have become the largest generics player; it lost out to China. Similarly, by this time, India should have become a value player in the outsourcing segment. But the country is still stuck in the age-old mindset, where you don’t fix things unless they go wrong. No one, not even the IT majors, seem prepared for the dramatic changes that will inevitably change the rules of the software services game in the next five years.

If the car manufacturers think, or act, the same way, the Indicas and Altos will only be seen in fringe markets like Africa and Latin America. Don’t be surprised if India designs the world’s cheapest car, but it is made in another country by a global player. Surely, India would not want to lose out on this unique opportunity.

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Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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