In an article entitled " The Mathematics of a TVS Minus Suzuki" M.Ramesh writes in Business Line September 28,2001, thus:

"With Suzuki Motor Corporation getting out of the joint venture, the general opinion is that the company would be pushed into the confines of the entry-level two-wheeler market".

He also quotes from a 1996 Business Line article on TVS-Suzuki thus:

``JOINT ventures are like long-term friendships. They go through ups and downs. Circumstances and expectations may change which cause tensions in the joint venture. But if you have a robust working relationship, whatever be the tension, you don't go and shout from the rooftops. You keep negotiating, fighting internally, hammering it out and finally arrive at something that both can live with.'' 

That was what Mr Venu Srinivasan, Managing Director of TVS-Suzuki, told Business Line in an interview in 1996, when asked about his experience of working in a joint venture and reports of tension among the partners. 

In what turned out to be an extremely interesting interview, Mr Srinivasan sparred with us on a variety of topics and provided insights into the formation of an alliance and its working. We had provoked him a bit by querying him about the introduction of latest technology. When he replied that his first commitment was to get a good return for the shareholders and not chase technology (``The two-wheeler technology is an intermediate one -- not a space craft or ship production business''), we queried him as to why he then chose to go to Suzuki for technology. 

His reply was an eye-opener -- ``We went to them 12 years ago (1984) not for technology alone but for strategic reasons. They had products off the shelf, while my development lead times were longer. Secondly, it gave us brand advantage. Thirdly, we learn work practices, manufacturing practices, vendor development practices. 

``The value-addition in two-wheeler production is small -- 70 per cent is the material cost. You need to make the product at the right cost and develop a good vendor base. Technology is just a means to an end. It must meet the cost requirements of the customer. You have to provide a package.'' 

A quick review of the technological expertise of Suzuki can be obtained from patents literature. Analysis of the patent data in www.uspto.gov indicates that Suzuki owns as high as 635 patents during the period 1976-date, with its latest on "Engine Management System" issued as US 6,294,988 on September 25,2001 ! No wonder that it has over 150 models in its stable , like its competitors Honda,Yamaha, Kawasaki, and so on. Importantly enough all the foreign companies are reported establishing their own fully owned subsidiaries in future.When this happens, one wonders whether there will be anymore any Indian two-wheelers at all !

It is in this context that nationalist Indians must salute Ratan Tata for his pioneering efforts to develop and productionise his Indica models of petrol/diesel driven cars. Patentmatics.com described the event as a golden example of native R&D. But are we sure that the Indian government is providing adequate support for such efforts as Japan and Korea gave for her industrial innovators in the early decades ? If this is not done in time and in adequate terms, there could be many more examples of TVS-Suzuki like mathematics.