One of the largest automobile makers in the world and owner of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands of luxury vehicles, Tata Motors recently disclosed its plans for new models under the JLR brands coming out of its drawing boards. It also plans to export some of those to the international markets while penetrating new overseas markets in the process.
The Tata Group’s board chairman Ratan Tata reveals that under the Jaguar brand, its Jaguar Land Rover Company will be introducing an entry level station wagon and a new roadster. This revelation is made by India’s largest automobile maker in terms of sales in its annual report for its fiscal year ending March 31st released only last Monday.
It should be remembered that Tata Motors bought the iconic British Jaguar and Land Rover marques from Ford Motors Co back in March 2008 for a reported $2.3 billion.
This happened amidst a developing global market meltdown that saw vehicle sales in US and European markets slump to record lows and almost closed down the big 4 Detroit car makers. The marque was previously owned by BMW before Ford bought it in 2000.
While the first two years of the marque under Tata’s ownership proved to be a headache, with the first quarter of its preceding fiscal year well into its second year of ownership, still showing depressed market demands for the two brands. But the last quarter of the same fiscal year extending into early 2010 showed remarkable improvements resulting in a net profit of ₤3 million ($4.7 million) for the JLR company.
The market has steadily shown signs of recovery and the increasing market demand for JLR models and the improved sales prove it, the report revealed. It further indicated its plans to concentrate its marketing initiatives on the emerging Middle East and China markets.
The company also disclosed its plans to have the entire Land Rover SUV line revamped and has already started with a new sport utility vehicle model Evoque under the Range Rover brand. There are also new Land Rover vehicles with more fuel efficient and hybrid engines on the drawing board.
As part of its plans, Tata Motors is setting its sights on expanding its international market presence and the company is considering putting up new manufacturing facilities overseas. An assembly plant in South Africa is expected to start operating soon for its commercial vehicles.
During the last fiscal year, Tata Motors report that its commercial vehicle exports rose moderately to 27,878 units up by 4.7% over the previous fiscal year, while its passenger vehicle exports experienced a 9.9% decline to just 6.231 units against the same period.
The company expects this numbers to improve starting this fiscal year. Outside of the JLR brand, the company says it is working to develop model variants of its indigenous cars Indigo Manza, Indica Vista and the Nano, considered the world’s cheapest car, for international markets.
