Tata Motors is currently losing steam in the Indian car market because of their dated product lineup and increasing competition. The Indian manufacturer is having a tough time even in the SUV segment that consists of the Safari, which has a cult following. The Safari is a slow seller, reason being, it offers basic features against Mahindra XUV500’s over-equipped cabin at the same price bracket. Now Tata Motors is planning a long term makeover silently with the help of Jaguar Land Rover by developing fresh models from ground up. Some of the products planned include two SUVs, which are intended to have Land Rover inputs.
Both Land Rover and Tata Motors are said to be working on two SUVs for the Indian market that will be introduced under the Tata brand name. One of the SUVs is expected to be launched as early as 2016 with a price bracket of Rs. 10-15 lakhs. The vendors are expected to start supplying components for the SUVs starting from first quarter 2015. The platform of these SUVs are being developed by Tata Motors itself but the inputs of Land Rover would come in terms of architecture, performance, technologies and better body stiffness.
Tata Motors is likely to upscale the Tata Aria’s X2 platform for the new SUVs which is also being used under the Safari Storme. Next generation SUVs from Tata Motors will have a lot of inputs from Land Rover, however the compact SUVs planned by the Indian manufacturer will not have any inputs from the British carmaker. We can expect significantly improved quality on the future offerings from Tata with the help of JLR. Both the brands are also working towards joint engine development programme, which will see manufacturing facilities in the UK as well as India.
Source – Live Mint