Flex is the Next Big Thing: Mohan Savarkar, CPO, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited

TURN OF SPEED caught up with Mohan Savarkar, Chief Product Officer, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited, during the New Tata Nexon drive in Jaipur where he spoke to us about the road ahead for diesels, how ‘Flex’ is the next big thing, and the new safety-related technologies that the car manufacturer is bringing on to their new vehicles. TOS: What is the road map vis-à-vis diesels at Tata Motors? MS: You may have noticed that we also had diesels on our very small cars which has reduced now. It is a matter of acceptance in the market, for the kind of money it costs to meet the new regulations, that has not worked for the smaller cars but it still works for the Nexon and above vehicles and it also about how well you’re able to do it. For example, with the Nexon, we were able to do BSVI Phase II with just a passive SCR. We don’t need SCR and Urea Tank and all that which also keeps the cost in control. Then it [also] depends on the market. Let’s say [if] there is demand in the market for diesel we continue.  TOS: There are still so many diesel heads out there