Tata Motors Working On Global Products

Faisal Ali Khan
by Faisal Ali Khan

Tata Motors is one of the biggest and oldest vehicle manufacturers in India. The company has been building trucks and buses for a long time now. The first passenger vehicle from Tata Motors came in the 1990s and there has been no turning back since then. Tata Motors sells many vehicles in Europe, Asia and Africa, including the Indica Vista, Indigo Manza, Safari and Aria (pictured above). However, these products haven’t shaken the market so far.

We all are aware about Tata Motors’ acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover in 2008. While Tata Motors has been able to transform the balance sheet of JLR into the positive, the more important benefit for the Indian automaker is the pool of talent and technology it now has access to. Just recently, Tata Motors announced its plans to increase market share in India by bringing in world class global products. The company says their upcoming vehicles will shock the nation.

While details about Tata Motors’ upcoming vehicles are still very sketchy, rumors point to the next generation Defender (due in 2015) and next generation Safari sharing platforms. The next generation Nano is being developed keeping global markets in mind and will certainly go on sale in Europe and the States. The next generation Indica, Indigo and Aria will also be developed with global tastes in mind and could serve as an alternative to Hyundai and Skoda’s entry level cars in many markets.

Top Gear had tested the City Rover (Indica in the UK) a few years back and they had nothing positive to talk about. Do you think the next generation of Tata vehicles would find acceptance with European tastes? Have you driven a Tata vehicle?

Faisal Ali Khan is the editor of MotorBeam.com, a website covering the auto industry of India.

Faisal Ali Khan
Faisal Ali Khan

More by Faisal Ali Khan

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 20 comments
  • Dimwit Dimwit on Nov 05, 2012

    Tata will do what every other new entry does... sell on price. If they can get it low enough, it will sell, at least enough to get them into the market. With the JLR connection they have the resources to have a followup plan from that which is where most entry level marques make their mistake; Lada or Yugo anyone?

  • Tstag Tstag on Nov 05, 2012

    If JLR are essentially designing all of TATA's future cars then they should have no problem designing a car with appeal in western markets. TATA's purchase of JLR just keeps getting better for Mr Tata.

  • GregLocock That's a bodge, not a solution. Your diff now has bits of broken off metal floating around in it.
  • The Oracle Well, we’re 3-4 years in with the Telluride and right around the time the long term durability issues start to really take hold. This is sad.
  • CoastieLenn No idea why, but nothing about a 4Runner excites me post-2004. To me, they're peak "try-hard", even above the Wrangler and Gladiator.
  • AZFelix A well earned anniversary.Can they also attend to the Mach-E?
  • Jalop1991 The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged due to suspected improper assembly by the supplier. Over time, partial engagement can cause damage to the intermediate shaft splines. Damaged shaft splines may result in unintended vehicle movement while in Park if the parking brake is not engagedGee, my Chrysler van automatically engages the parking brake when we put it in Park. Do you mean to tell me that the idjits at Kia, and the idjit buyers, couldn't figure out wanting this in THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLE????
Next