Very soon there will be an African Safari from Tata Motors as it is thinking of setting up an auto assembly plant in South Africa. This is partially acknowledged by the officials of Tata Motors. The sale hunt for Tata in South Africa, since 2005, was more than 39000 passenger cars and 50000 commercial vehicles. The specific sale in April 2010 by Tata was 489 comprising 20 commercial and 6 passenger models. In addition there is a technical centre at Johannesburg, for developing skill among the dealers.
The company official claimed that South Africa has been an integral element for Tata Motors’ business with tremendous business opportunities forecast in next 5 years. To upgrade its presence in the country, Tata Motors has introduced new models- Xenon Pick-up, LPT 1518, Tata-Daewoo trucks, Indica Vista. Sooner Tata Nano will find its way to South Africa. The outbreak of recession has stalled many companies from installing facilities in other places. But some companies see the reduction of labor, save in tax and increase in employment when new facilities are installed.
Tata has seen the export growth in April 2010 to 149%(sale of 3137 units) against 1261 vehicles in the same period last year. The company has recently hinted at the launch of an assembly plant for two models in Nigeria in another two or three years. The sale in this region has crossed 1000 units.