Articles
Dr Tim Leverton moved to India to join Tata Motors as president and head of advanced and product engineering in 2010. The move marked a return to a major automotive company for Dr Leverton, after several successful years at JCB in the UK, as well as his first job in Asia. There are around 4000 engineers and 2000 technicians at Tata Motors working in R&D
An IMechE member and fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, PE met with Dr Leverton at Tata Motor’s plant in Pune, Maharashtra to discuss the Indian automotive sector, technology and professional accreditation for engineers in India.
What brought you to India and Tata Motors?
The scale of the opportunity. Tata Motors is a relatively young business - 1998 onwards. The company is taking steps to become a full range manufacturer and part of a global market that will be intensely competitive. In order to find our place we have to be innovative and distinctive and be bold with what we do and be ready to invest. There is a lot of potential, plus a team of people here ready to do a world-class job.
I was on the edge of the automotive industry at JCB, but there has been such a lot of innovation in low carbon vehicle concepts and systems since then, at a much faster rate than previously. I’m interested in that, and I’ve always been interested in small cars.
The Nano small car, gained international attention when launched in 2009 by Tata Motors. It costs less than $2000 and is aimed at poorer Indians
What is the most important thing your engineers are working on at the moment?
Electrification is probably the most important thing. Short term we’ve got to turn our business position around and bring some product to market. Medium term we’ve got to create an efficient structure for the company, a good process of getting products out.
Long term, we’ve got to have a sustainable future based on the technologies available to us. In a way we’ve probably spent more time acquiring those technologies. We’ve built up a competency in electrification across commercial and passenger vehicles. We’ve had electric vehicles running in the UK. We’ve got a fleet of CNG hybrid buses running in Madrid, and we won that tender against European competition. We’re positioned very well in terms of our technology capabilities, and there’s a lot more conventional maturing steps to be taken to build our product portfolio and manufacturing capabilities.
Is it fair to say Indian cars and trucks are behind current design and engineering trends in Europe?
Our Vista and Manza cars were engineered ten years ago. But if you look at our Aria vehicle, it has six airbags, a navigation system, the full suite of electronics. It has everything you would see in another vehicle configured for the Indian market and perhaps a few others. And that’s part of the interesting phase of the development of the company - how we move to something which is on the edge in the terms of design standards, more so in styling and design than engineering. Our Pixel concept car expresses where we are heading, what type of products can be expected from us.
Tata Motors Pixel City Car was a concept car developed at the company’s European Technical Centre
What is your R&D strategy and how does Europe fit in with Tata Motors Indian product development?
The level of integration is growing steadily. Our European technical centre gives us access to skills, technology and networking in Europe. Its also part of how we are developing our engineering capability in the core of Tata Motors. It's contribution at the front end of programs is an effective way of doing that and it will continue to grow in parallel with expertise in India.
How are engineers perceived in India?
Even though there is no recognition of professional engineers in India, it's still seen as an important job - the education system here is churning out a lot of engineering graduates. The system is good at basic engineering training, but people don't get access to further education after that. Given that there is such a young population it makes sense to offer them structured careers.
You’ve been a strong advocate for the professional registration of engineers with the IMechE at Tata Motors. Why is this important in India?
I’m interested in the recognition of Tata Motors’ engineers and ensuring that people can develop with an active vision of where they want their career to go. But in the end, we need the whole of the Indian engineering profession to come on board. We work with so many partners, and we need them to be able to benefit from this as well.
Coming from the UK you can take this for granted. Certainly within this company there are certain positions you would expect to be filled with chartered engineers, and that is your assurance system. We need that here as well. That is something that should grow.
It’s something I believe in and it also makes sense to ensure standards are held in high regard.
- For further information about Professional Registration with the IMechE in India please contact the Institution’s Consulting Director for India Prabal Sarma email: p_sarma@imeche.org