Ferrari outsourcing! (today's WSJ)

[Decolliber]

India's Tata Consultancy Wins
Ferrari Engine-Design Contract

Associated Press
December 6, 2004 3:29 p.m.

NEW DELHI -- India's top software exporter Tata Consultancy Services announced Monday it has won a multimillion dollar deal with Italian sports-car maker Ferrari to design Formula 1 engines.

Teams of engineers and specialists from Tata Consultancy will assist in the development of a Formula 1 racing car engine for the next season beginning March, said N. Chandrasekaran, executive vice president of the company.

"This is a significant win," Mr. Chandrasekaran said of the deal. "The aspect that makes it very special is that we will be doing the core work that powers the Ferrari engine for the race car division."

In Italy, Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni confirmed that a three-year deal was signed with Tata, but declined to disclose its value.

The first group of Tata's engineers has already reached Maranello, Italy, Ferrari's headquarters, to start work on the project, the executive vice president said. Tata Consultancy will provide software and various automation services for Ferrari.

The company wouldn't disclose the specifics of the agreement.

The deal with Ferrari will help Tata raise its profile in Europe, Mr. Chandrasekaran said, especially at a time when several orders from European companies are in the pipeline.

Tata Consultancy's clients include American Express Co., British Telecom PLC, Boeing Co., and IBM Corp.

The company, part of the $13 billion Tata group, exported software and related services valued at $1.2 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31.

Copyright © 2004 Associated Press

[cegerer]

Any relation to Tata Motors in India???

http://uv.tatamotors.com/newuv/index.asp#

[ZAMIRZ]

"The first group of Tata's engineers has already reached Maranello, Italy, Ferrari's headquarters, to start work on the project, the executive vice president said."

I don't see how it's outsourcing if they're coming to Italy to do the work...?

[nostatic]

I know some Tata people out here. The company sucks. They have taken a TON of jobs out of the US.

[project935]

That pretty much means that a non-Ferrari team will have a very good shot at and F1 championship next year.

If Tata is anything like the outsourcing companies that the rest of the auto industry deals with in India, the work will be late, incomplete, and require 2-3 do-overs.

But they saved $ on the first one - nevermind it will cost them 2-3x more for the rework. BTDT ...

[john70t]

Tata has also just gotten an Indian inventor on board who's cylinder head design may radicalize the industry...mmmabye. (Steve Weiner of Rennsport was a tech advisor for the article.)
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/futurecar/article/0,20967,679464-2,00.html

Mercedes and others have long had plants in China, and now a Chinese company owns IBM. New world, different rules, no sacred cow.

[widebody911]

I found some more information about Ferrari's F1 outsourcing to India. Sorry it's in PowerPoint - that's the format it came in

http://rennlight.com/video/indiaf1.pps

[JSDSKI]

I don't see how it's outsourcing if they're coming to Italy to do the work...?

They're not Italian citizens and are presumably fillling spots that Italian engineers and programmers could fill. Also, they're contribution to Italian taxes is not the same as that of a citizen or home company.