Tata Safari Reviews

A recent report in London’s Financial Times said that Jaguar senior executives had already shown Tata at least three new model projects for investment consideration.They are believed to be a coupe version of the XF sedan, a four-door version of the XK coupe, and a two-seater sports car based on the F-Type concept, that would aim to challenge the Porsche Boxster and BMW Z4.Jaguar head of design, Ian Callum, is quoted in the Financial Times article as saying that Tata had responded well to the British house’s design direction.“We have shown Tata our new model lines and the planned product cycle,” Callum says. “The two national cultures appear to fit together very well and Tata is being very respectful about what we are doing.”He also suggests that the relationship with current owners Ford had often been subject to tensions over design, revealing that the X-Type was designed in Detroit and then forced on the team at Jaguar’s Whitley design centre new Coventry.However some of the blame could be attributed to Jaguar, which had failed to move on and keep pace with rivals, the article quotes Callum as saying.Models of the XF coupe are rumoured to have already been built at Whitley, and are understood to share the bulk of their design with the XF sedan, but have the lower roofline seen in the C-XF concept.Jaguar Australia managing director David Blackhall has previously hinted that the XF – which is seen as being crucial to the carmaker’s future — could be developed into several variants as variations on the themeThe Financial Times article did not explicitly confirm that Tata had signed off on acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover, but the purchase is expected to be formally announced by late this month, with the price estimated to be US$2 billion.However, the sale has been largely accepted as being a done deal for at least two months.

The Indian company in the front-line of bidding for British motoring icons Jaguar and Land Rover has launched India's “people's car”, a $2835 four-seater.With Ford's decision on the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover imminent, Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata has unveiled the budget hatch at the New Delhi Motor Show.Critics say while the Nano will bring motoring to India's masses, it may also clog the roads and create an environmental nightmare.The four-door car is basic. It has a high ground clearance for India's rough roads and its simple rear-drive, 24kW, 623cc, two-cylinder petrol engine under the rear seats powers it to a top speed of 105km/h and delivers 5.0 litres for 100km.It will be available in three models — Standard, Deluxe and Luxury — and will be sold in left and right-hand drive.The Standard is basic, with no radio, passenger-side mirror, wheel covers, central locking or airconditioning. Buyers wanting these luxuries must choose the Deluxe or Luxury models.Tata plans to add hybrid and diesel versions to the line-up.Despite being only 3100mm long, 1500mm wide and 1600mm high — significantly shorter and narrower than a Mini Cooper — the Nano meets Indian crash legislation, Tata claims, but it can be strengthened for other markets.It will be launched later this year and sold across India, and there are plans later to export it to developing countries.Tata expects to sell 100,000 Nanos a year initially. Company executives say the car will be pitched at budget buyers who now own motorcycles.Tata says he wants to give Indian families more mobility.“I see families riding on two-wheelers, the father driving, a kid standing in front, his wife seated behind holding a baby,” he says.“It led me to wonder whether we could design a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family.”They could. It took four years.“Today we have a people's car that is affordable and yet built to meet safety requirements and emission norms, to be fuel-efficient and low on emissions,” he says. 

Senior executives at the British prestige brands have already been told they will be sold off to Tata, which has just produced the world's cheapest car — the Nano — with a sub-$3000 price tag.CEO of the Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally, says Tata is the final player in the sell-off plan, which was hatched to give the Blue Oval brand much-needed cash to invest in its troubled North American operations.The move follows the successful sale of Aston Martin to a private consortium, although its likely that Ford will hang on to its Volvo brand in Sweden.“We are focused on Tata and I anticipate something in the first quarter,” Mulally says.But are there any other contenders in the sale?“We are focused on Tata right now,” he says. There is a gentle sense of irony in the timing of the latest announcement given that it was only last week that Tata launched India's 'people's car' — a $2835 four-seater — with great fanfare.With Ford's decision on the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover imminent, Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata unveiled the budget hatch at the New Delhi motor show.However, critics say although the Nano will bring motoring to the newly affluent Indian masses, it may also clog the sub-continent's roads and create an environmental nightmare.The cute four-door is very basic, has a high ground clearance for India's rough roads and a simple rear-drive 24kW 623cc two-cylinder petrol engine under the rear seats.This powers the car to a top speed of 105km/h while delivering 5.0L per 100km. Tata says it has plans to add hybrid and diesel versions.It will be available in three models, the Standard, Deluxe and Luxury and will be sold in left- and right-hand-drive.The Standard is basic, missing a radio, passenger side mirror, wheel covers, central locking and airconditioning. Buyers who want these luxuries must opt for the Nano Deluxe or Luxury. Despite being just 3100mm long, 1500mm wide and 1600mm high — significantly shorter and narrower than a Mini Cooper — Tata claims the Nano meets Indian crash legislation but can be strengthened for other markets that have tougher impact standards. 

 

India's “People's Car” has yet to be unveiled but some Indians are already raving about Tata Motors' new $2900 vehicle — despite environmentalists' fears. Environmentalists predict a plague of ever-cheaper cars and ever-swelling clouds of climate-changing fumes. Tata will unveil its 100,000-rupee car tomorrow. Selling for less than half the price of the current cheapest car in the market, it hopes it will tap into the growing ranks of India's middle class — rather like the Volkswagen Beetle did in Germany or the Mini in Britain. Several more-established middle- class consumers said it would make for an affordable second car. Tata Motors says a lot of the fears are unfounded. It says the car will meet emission standards and car sales are already growing fast without the help of the People's Car.   Considering the cheapness of Tata cars do you think it would have a promising future in Australia?  

Indian company Tata has unveiled plans to build a people's car that will cost $2800, while carmakers Renault and Nissan are seriously looking at a vehicle about $3500.

Indian company Tata has unveiled plans to build a people's car that will cost $2800 while carmakers Renault and Nissan are seriously looking at a vehicle around $3500.Renault already has the mass-production Logan car, which sells below $10,000 in Europe.Meanwhile, analysts say Toyota, Hyundai and Chinese automaker Chery are also looking to make ultra-cheap cars in India.However, Tata has been criticised by green advocates who say its car would simply add to traffic chaos and carbon emission, a claim Tata chairman Ratan Tata vehemently refutes.He says his company will bring what is billed as “the people's car” to market next year and its price will be on target, despite a sharp rise in the price of steel and other inputs since the project announcement three years ago. Details or pictures of the car have not yet been released.Carmakers from around the world are keenly watching progress in the Tata project, which analysts say could set new price benchmarks and force other manufacturers to follow suit.But environment groups say the low price will bring the car within the reach of millions of Indians, triggering more pollution and burdening the country's crumbling infrastructure.However, Tata says his car will adhere to strict quality norms like any car in the developed world. He adds: “We will have less pollution per vehicle than any other vehicle in the country today”, indicating that pollution levels will be close to that of two-wheelers.He acknowledges there will be more congestion, but says the answer is in building more and better infrastructure rather than asking car makers to roll back production.Meanwhile, David Cole, chairman of the US Centre for Automotive Research, says a small car with a small engine is likely to pollute less than one with a large engine.But a clean car in India likely would not meet US Environmental Protection Agency pollution limits, he says.“Most of the developing countries, their emissions standards are just sort of getting cranked up now. The baseline is not very difficult to surpass,” he says.Tata says he is curious as to why his low-cost car catering to the aspirations of average Indians is being singled out for criticism.Earlier, there was scepticism that the company could stick to the price target and now it is facing “flak for a different set of reasons”, he says.The company plans to make between 250,000 and 500,000 units a year, Tata says. The base model will cost 100,000 rupees ($3000), but there will be two more variants at a higher price with added features.Keeping fuel options flexible, including the use of ethanol, is also being considered, he says.The project has spurred other global carmakers to explore similar ventures. Already, Renault and its partner, Nissan, are trying to determine if they can sell a compact car for around $3500.VW, meanwhile, unveiled its Up! concept at the Frankfurt motor show this year, a van-like Space up! concept at the Tokyo Motor Show and a Blue up! concept at this month's Los Angeles motor show.The up! concepts are aimed at reviving the low-priced people's car philosophy of the original VW Beetle.VW says development of production versions are underway.It is expecting to have up!s on the road within the next three years.German auto consulting firm CSM Worldwide says the new Tata could help Tata Motors emerge as India's largest manufacturer of cars and light trucks by the year 2013.

Carmakers from emerging market countries have revealed their intentions at the Frankfurt Motor Show, even though their presence had been discreet compared with the European, Japanese and US giants.As car sales stagnate in those three regions, manufacturers have turned towards China, India and Russia, all of which had exhibitors present at the fair. China sent the biggest delegation, with 44 stands that included carmakers as well as parts companies.Two years ago the Chinese had a timid presence at the show but that changed this year. For most Chinese auto companies, however, coming to the shows was “a question of getting a foot into the European and US market,” says Hartwig Hirtz, who imports cars to Germany for Brilliance, a major Chinese brand. He sold his first models this year and awaits European certification to attack 17 other markets in 2008, with an annual sales target of 15,000 units.But getting started was not easy. In addition to charges of copyright violations, some Chinese cars have had catastrophic results in crash tests. “The Chinese might not have taken European security obligations seriously enough,” Hirtz says.For Elisabeth Young, president of Asie Auto which imports Brilliance in France, the short-term Chinese target is to show they can do as well as the Europeans. “It's important as well for the domestic market, which is very competitive, and where clients still favour European and American brands,” she says. “Within 10 years, they want to be among the world's biggest.”India, meanwhile was much more discreet, with no cars and just a few stands squeezed in next to Czech exhibitions, displaying the green, white and orange national flag.India has nonetheless been making noises. Tata Motors is mulling a bid for the British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which might be sold by Ford. Another Indian group, Mahindra, has also been suggested as a possible bidder for the British companies.As for the Russians, Lada remained their only brand on display, and included the Niva four-wheel-drive vehicle.Lada first appeared in Frankfurt in 1970 and is reasonably well implanted in Europe, where it sold 25,000 cars last year. “We have a traditional clientele,” a spokesman says. “It's a niche market.” It mainly attracts those who have less to spend, but is a market in which Renault has nonetheless achieved considerable success with its Romanian-built Logan. “On this point, we are unbeatable,” says Benoit Chambon, spokesman for AZ-Motors which will import Shuanghuan cars to France.