Tata Motors shut Sanand facility temporarily

The production of the country’s cheapest car, Tata Nano, has been temporarily stopped as Tata Motors has decided to shut down the Sanand plant in Gujarat for routine maintenance for about 40 days.

Tata Motors spokesperson says, “As with all our plants, the Sanand facility is closed as per annual planning for routine upgrades, maintenance and adding of tooling flexibility for new variants. The periods for this kind of maintenance work may vary and range from three-six weeks.”

As the news of the Sanand facility’s temporary shutdown broke, rumours such as the production of the base version of Tata Nano being suspended started doing rounds. Denying these rumours, the company spokesperson stated that the base version of the Tata Nano will continue to be manufactured in the Sanand facility.

Built with a huge investment of Rs 2,000 crore, the Sanand plant has a capacity of producing about 2.5 lakh units per annum. The company data reveals that 1,001 units of Nano were produced in May 2014, and an equal number of units were sold. In April 2014, a total number of 1,032 cars were produced in the country of which 1,027 units were sold.