TIL Desk/Business/Mumbai-The Tata Motors board had grappled with the problem of reviving the loss-making Tata Nano, and had several discussions on the issue, said a director on the Tata Motors board. The director also defended the track record of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and said he could not be blamed for the losses in the Nano project, which he had inherited.
He also added the Nano had lost between Rs 6,000 crore and Rs 7,000 crore since its launch, and the car did not make money from day one. “The board was concerned over the Nano and we had discussed several options as it was losing money on every car and the inventory was only piling up,” the director said asking not to be named. “After sinking in Rs 6,000-7,000 crore in the Nano till date, what is the result?”
“The entire board is the owner of the decisions and not Mistry alone. If Cyrus is removed for this reason then the entire board should be sacked,” said he. The Nano was launched in March 2009 but it failed to generate sales due to its “cheap” price tag and competition from better models produced by rivals such as Maruti. Tata Motors, however, was saved by the timely acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) by Ratan Tata in 2008, which is now generating huge cash for the company.
