| First Batch of Massey Ferguson Tractors roll out of Eicher Tractors
Plant at Mandideep, Bhopal
The Eicher Tractors plant at Mandideep is a unit of TAFE Motors and Tractors Limited (TMTL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chennai based tractor major Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE). TMTL and TAFE today announced that in keeping with their synergy plans, the Mandideep plant will rollout the first batch of TAFE’s Massey Ferguson tractors today. The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Babulal Gaur and Shri Kailash Chawla, The Minister for Industries, Commerce and Employment would flag off the first batch of these tractors. According to Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Director, TAFE and TMTL,” The TAFE group is growing faster at 24% as against the Industry, which according to the latest figures has grown at 14% so far this year. The TAFE group plans to manufacture and sell about 60000 tractors this year and end the year with a turnover of about Rs.2000 Crores.” She added that, “ We are now back into a situation where we need to enhance product and supply volumes. The Mandideep plant being in the heart of the major tractor markets of India, this move to make Massey Ferguson tractors there will bring us closer to the customer and shorten lead times for supply to customers. It also gives us considerable flexibility in the product mix to better match customer demands.” An investment of Rs100 Crores is envisaged over the next few years in TMTL and the captive vendor units for modernisation of facilities, enhancing capacity and greater in plant value addition at TMTL. The group has already increased market share by 2 percent, moving from 21 percent in April to October 2004 to 23 percent in the corresponding period this year. TAFE and TMTL have focussed on introducing area and crop specific models and variants and have so far released models such as the Eicher 242 X-trac, Eicher 333 Regular and Portal , the Eicher 5660, MF 5245 Maha Mahaan, TAFE 4410 Maha Samrat and the MF 241 Compressor plus across various markets of the country. Before the end of this year, they plan to introduce 5 more models under the Eicher, TAFE and MF brands. Apart from the Domestic market, TAFE has a significant presence in the South East Asian markets and is the market leader in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the face of stiff competition from all over the world. It also exports tractors and components to the discerning markets in Eastern Europe and the US. TAFE’s exports have shown robust growth figures with over 100.54 % growth in April to October 2005 with the product range for exports being expanded upto 90 HP tractors with a variety of sophisticated features, specially developed for markets in Eastern Europe, South East Asia and Africa. TAFE reiterates its vision to achieve the distinction of being the first choice of the Indian Farming community through setting global standards of performance and customer care. For more details: |