Tata Motors To Ramp Up Sierra Production Amid Surging Demand: Shailesh Chandra

New Delhi: Tata Motors began 2026 the way they ended 2025-on a high. The facelifted Punch was introduced to the market, and Shailesh Chandra told NDTV Auto that it 'was poised to be the top-seller'. The new Sierra delivery deliveries commence on January 16, 2026, and Tata Motors passenger vehicles CEO and MD elaborated on how FY26 would be a record year for the industry. Excerpts from the interview:

NDTV Auto: Last year saw a lot of new products - electric, full-size, then Sierra, and now the Punch. How do you see the fiscal year shaping up? Do you see the entire market surpassing the 4.3-million mark?

Shailesh Chandra: The first eight months of the calendar year were tough for the industry. It was actually declining, and then all of a sudden, this magic of GST 2.0 happened, and the industry started growing by 20-25%. So, Q4 should be even equally strong. I mean, it's a post-GST quarter. Therefore, I think the 4-4.5 million benchmark is definitely going to be passed.

NDTV Auto: How has the year been for Tata Motors at large? It's growing in scale. What's your outlook for the next fiscal?

Shailesh Chandra: It was a challenging start, given that there were a lot of headwinds in the industry. For us, we were also busy in the middle of preparing for launches. The launch cycle was about to start. So, we had a tough phase. But after GST 2.0, we just picked up. The whole company's performance took a significant leap , and we exited the quarter 3, with more than 200,000 retail sales, while being ranked number two in VAHAN.

The launch activity started in November. You would have seen , starting with the Sierra, then the petrol Safari and Harrier, and now the Punch, and there are lots more to come. So, I think the second half of the financial year will be strong.

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NDTV Auto: You have launched the Sierra, with quite an uptick in consumer demand. How do you see the Sierra shaping up? What are the initial numbers and impressions like?

Shailesh Chandra: You know the numbers. You have already seen the announcement that we made on December 16th - 70,000 bookings, and the bookings don't stop. The deliveries are going to start from January 16th. The challenge is on the production side. I think we have to ramp up the production fast. Not only a production ramp-up but also an increase in capacity in phases. We had not expected this kind of overwhelming response. Every quarter, we are going to increase the capacity also. Right now, this quarter's focus is to ramp up the production as fast as possible.

NDTV Auto: Do you see a certain trend towards the Sierra? Are people going for the higher trims?

Shailesh Chandra: People are going for higher trims, as well as middle, and entry-level ones. So it is serving the aspirations of many. It's a very equitable one actually. More interest comes from a powertrain perspective also, with a significant inclination for GDI as well as the naturally-aspirated engines. There are also reasonable bookings for automatics and diesel. So it's an very equitable distribution, which I can see. It has not been a surprise.

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NDTV Auto: How far are we from the electric Sierra? Do we see it in the next quarter of this fiscal?

Shailesh Chandra: I think I can only tell you closer to the date because we'll also have to take a call based on how fast we are able to ramp up and deal with the ICE demand first. So it would be ready , you know at a certain point in time as we had planned but we'll review whether we can launch it or when the deliveries will begin.

NDTV Auto: Let's shift to on to the highlight of the day - the Punch. How has consumer demand for it shifted after the GST? Do you see an increase in momentum in the entry-level segment? Do you see the pressure on the entry-level segments easing up?

Shailesh Chandra: Yes. I have seen that the biggest beneficiary of GST 2.0 was the less than 4-metre cars. The small cars got nearly 10% less GST compared to the 8% for slightly bigger cars. The segments that benefited the most were the subcompact SUV and the compact SUV. The Punch is the winner in the subcompact SUV. So this is a market where, in every segment, you see the winner takes all. The Punch has been doing significantly well after GST 2.0.

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NDTV Auto: How has your powertrain strategy been like? You have everything - electric, CNG, petrol and diesel. Are there certain pockets where you see growth?

Shailesh Chandra: Anything that's driving sales for Tata is opening new sales channels from a mix perspective. The traditional powertrains which are diesel and petrol, are reducing in their share, giving way to electric and CNG. So if you'd, have asked me maybe a year or two years ago, we would have been doing about 30%. Today, it is more like closer to 45%. So CNG has significantly grown across the industry. Also, if you see, while the industry would have grown by 5%, CNG would have grown by nearly 25%. And electric vehicles have grown by nearly 75%. So, emission-friendly powertrains are increasing, and we're happy to be in the sweet spot of a multi-powertrain offering. So we have all the options available. Whichever grows is fine with us.

NDTV Auto: Tata has been at the forefront of giving options to the customers. A pain point for the industry and Tata Motors, along with a few other players, have been vocal about it. This has been the CAFE 3 norms, which are around the corner. Do you think if it's implemented the way it is, it will impact your fortunes?

Shailesh Chandra: You know, frankly, nothing much to add because I'm also mindful that I'm also the president of SIAM. The good thing is that as a body, we have been able to send our representation and views on CAFE 3 to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency for them to consider. We are engaging with them, and whatever we have recommended is something which works well for all the players. It is going to be stringent. It is going to be a stretch. But that's what , in any case, the country would need for us to progress in a direction which will overcome the environmental challenges. So let's wait and see.

NDTV Auto: For my last question, Mr. Chandra, it would be around electric cars. You have been pioneers. With so many electric cars - biggest portfolio and numbers, this calendar year has almost grown by 80%. But, still, only around 5% penetration rate. Where do you see it going next year? Do you see it growing gradually or will there be a sudden change?

Shailesh Chandra: Just take the example of last year - before that, the penetration was somewhat around 2.5 percent. Why did it jump to 5% all of a sudden? For the simple reason that there were four-five players which entered the market and launched about seven-eight models. So more participation by players and more choices for consumers is the trick to increasing the penetration. It'll become stagnant if there is a lack of participation. So as more players get into this, as we are able to progress on the journey of price parity, better confidence through lifetime warranties, faster charging speeds, better charging ecosystem, I think this penetration will keep increasing. I have already mentioned in some of the earlier interactions that by 2030, we believe that the industry has the ability to hit 15 to 20% penetration. Tata Motors aims to hit more than 30% penetration, but that would require participation from all the players.