Fiat eyes a slice of Tata's Jaguar-Land Rover business

Mumbai: Italian auto major Fiat has proposed to supply future powertrains to Tata Motrors' Jaguar and Land Rover SUVs once the agreement with Ford expires. It is also in talks with the Indian auto major to extend their alliance to commercial vehicles segment as well.

''Fiat is looking to extend its alliance with Tatas to include architecture, design, platform and powertrain collaboration,'' Fiat global CEO Sergio Marchionne said on the sidelines of the SIAM annual meeting.

''There is a lot of openness in Fiat about its partnership with Tata and JLR is a great opportunity for collaboration on architecture, powertrain, design and platform,'' Marchionne said. ''So, yes, we are talking to the Tatas. We are keen to get a move on JLR. Currently, JLR has an arrangement to source engines from Ford, but if we were asked to supply engines to them we would be happy to do so. It is certainly one of the available options,'' he added.

Marchionne said the two groups are discussing plans to jointly develop a light commercial vehicle (LCV), adding, the partnership could be through the company's LCV arm Fiat Professional.

Currently, Tata Motors depends on its joint venture with Cummins for engines for its medium and heavy commercial vehicle ranges. The company makes engines in-house for its LCVs.

Tata and Fiat already have a joint venture in India and have together invested close to Rs4,000 crore at Ranjangaon in Maharashtra for a new car and engine plant. Tata is sourcing engines for its new cars from this plant and the engines are made from Fiat's latest technology. These include Fiat's famed 1.3-liter multijet diesel engine.