Outsourcing, or contracting what are traditionally internal company
functions to outside vendors (i.e., help desk) is an action normally associated with the computer industry. But with
few notable exceptions (e.g., surgery, food preparation, etc.), virtually any company can outsource all of its
functions. This includes automakers who have, for decades, outsourced such functions as crash-test results, all in the
name of cutting costs.
Could the Big Three (or 2½) one day outsource an entire vehicle design, from
conception to working model, to another company and even another country? That’s what Tata Technologies, based in
Puna, India, is hoping. Says Tata’s COO Jeffrey Sage, “”I think we are only a couple years away from
seeing this happen. It is imminent.”
The advantages offered by outsourcing to firms such as Tata
Technologies are numerous: a well-educated, highly-technological staff whose salaries can be a quarter of a similarly
educated U.S. staff member.
Could this happen? Should it? What’s your thought? An earlier post on
India’s ambitions to become a major designer for the world’s auto makers can be found here.