Tata Engineering to launch new models and increase exports

Chennai: Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (Telco) has lined up a slew of vehicle launches till 2003 summer. The company is expected to introduce a new station wagon, a petrol version of its leading multi-utility vehicle (MUV) Safari and a Sumo variant.

Telco is also in talks with an Iranian company for exporting its Indica small car. The company has already signed an agreement with MG Rover Group, UK, to export its small car (See ).

Telco executive director (passenger car business unit and engineering research centre) Dr V Sumantran says the proposed station wagon will be built on the existing Indica/Indigo platform and will be different from Tata Estate, Telcos earlier model.

The company had built its sedan on the Indica platform. The Indica was launched after extensive testing in India and the UK; for seven months we had our team in Britain. The Indica V2 comes with a whole new-front suspension and offers better comforts, he adds. There are around 2.10 lakh Indicas on the roads.

According to Sumantran the common platform allows the company immense flexibility and sharing of manufacturing systems. With the existing range of vehicles MUVs, the small car and the sedan we have established a presence in 70 per cent of the total domestic passenger vehicle market.

Gung-ho about the companys tie-up with Rover, UK, for supplying modified and upgraded Indicas to be sold under the Rover brand, he says: When BMW parted ways with Rover, the former took with it the small car. And Rover will fill the gap by sourcing fully-built small cars from us. The UK company has around 2,000 dealers.

According to him, the additional investments in tooling to roll out the modified Indica (the car will sport a slightly different exterior with new bumpers and other plastic parts) is negligible. The Rover Indica will also have safety measures like air bags for the driver and passengers. The Rover agreement is a multi-year deal. However, the volumes they would source and other details are yet to be decided. But it will be substantial.

When asked about Telcos plans to offer similar safety measures for the Indian buyers, he says: It depends on the costs and affordability. We havent worked out the additional cost that would be incurred to incorporate those safety devices.

Since Telco does not export the Indica to the UK, there will not be any conflict of interest with Rover. The company, however, exports its small car to other European countries like Spain, Italy and Portugal. Last year, we exported around 3,000 Indicas and sold 64,000 units in India, says Sumantran.

The company is also in talks with an Iranian company for exporting Indica in a completely knocked down (CKD) form.