Price, Features and Specifications of Tata Indigo e-CS sedan

Tata Motors proudly launched the Tata Indigo e-CS as ‘World’s most compact sedan’ which is set at a price starting from Rs. 4,08,000 to Rs. 4,88,000 (ex-showroom price in Delhi). The company aims to make a sedan available to those who want to spend money below Rs.5 lac and yet enjoy this vehicle. It is the most fuel efficient sedan launched by Tata till date.

Tata Indigo has undergone a facelift and Tata has also enhanced some of the features to deliver e-CS to the Indian sedan buyers. The company has launched 4 versions of e- CS: Indigo e-CS eLS, Indigo e-CS eGLS, Indigo e-CS eLX and Indigo e–CS eGLX.

Tata Indigo e-CS will be available in 2 engine options namely 1193cc MPFi Petrol which can develop 65Bhp of maximum power with 100Nm of maximum torque and 1396cc CR4 Diesel engine which can develop 70 Bhp of maximum power with 140 Nm of maximum torque. Both the engines are complaint with BS4 emission norms applicable in 13 cities of India. The all new 1.4 litre CR 4 Common Rail Diesel engine offers a mileage of 23.03 kmpl approved by ARAI. This mileage is the highest for any sedan currently available.

The all new Tata Indigo e-CS comes with revamped features that include new headlamps, new orange turn indicators in headlamps, new white alloy wheels, dual tone beige interiors, electric outside rear view mirrors and integrated turn indicators in outside rear view mirrors. The sedan also includes new music system with Bluetooth and aux port, new satin finish front grille, new instrument cluster with chrome rings and latest brown glaze finish for centre console. The company has also cut the overall length to four meters to avail tax benefits of small cars. Tata Motors has successfully made e-CS a complete package to address space and maneuverability demands in the big and congested cities of India.

Tata Indigo e-CS is available in 4 vibrant colors: Sterling Gold, Starlight Blue, Royal Burgundy and Porcelain White. The ex-showroom price in Delhi for the four models is as follows- e-CS e LS is set at Rs. 4,08,000, e-CS e GLS at Rs. 4,28,000, e- CS e LX at Rs. 4,68,000 and e-CS e GLX 4,88,000.

India's Tata Motors swings into third quarter profit

India's top vehicle company Tata Motors said, its domestic operations swung to a third-quarter profit from a loss a year earlier as demand for cars rose, aided by new launches.

The company, which makes cars and trucks, reported a net profit of four billion rupees (86 million dollars) for the three months to December, compared with a net loss of 2.63 billion rupees a year earlier.

The earnings did not include data for British luxury icons Jaguar and Land Rover, which Tata Motors bought from ailing Ford Motor Co for 2.3 billion dollars in March 2008.

The performance was slightly below market expectations. Analysts had expected a profit of close to 4.3 billion rupees.

Revenues jumped nearly 90 percent to 89.29 billion rupees for the quarter, a company statement said.

"Introduction of new products and strong sustained growth in the existing portfolio, along with government stimulus has driven domestic demand revival," the company said in a statement.

India's large automakers have seen a revival in sales in recent months on improved consumer demand, government stimulus packages and fresh launches.

Tata Motors sold 165,413 vehicles including overseas sales in the quarter, a jump of 67.5 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The company's shares fell 2.92 percent or 20.9 rupees to 694.35 on the Mumbai stock exchange, ahead of the release of its earnings.

The company, which introduced the world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano, on the roads in July last year, said it sold 17,357 Nano cars up to December, with plans to ramp up further.

The jelly-bean shaped Nano is being produced at present from existing plants after the company was forced out of its planned factory in eastern India over a land dispute in 2008.

Nano cars are expected to roll out from a new plant in western Gujarat state early this year, media reports said.

Tata Motors says it faced the challenges of rising input costs and a possible hike in interest rates.

"The withdrawal of government stimulus, rising input costs and an increase in interest rates are concerns going ahead," the company's chief financial officer C. Ramakrishnan told reporters.

On Friday, India's central bank announced a marginal tightening in monetary policy, by raising the cash reserve ratio for commercial banks by 75 basis points to curb inflationary pressures.

Rising raw material costs pushed Tata Motors' operating profit down to 12.8 percent in the quarter, from 13.36 percent in the previous quarter ending September, the company said.

Analysts said the company may ride through these challenges by showing higher sales growth.

"The company has said that margins could be hit as inputs costs rise, but we expect volume growth to offset this, as domestic demand is strong," said Vaishali Jajoo, analyst with Mumbai-based Angel Broking.

Tata Motors Eyes Pininfarina

The famous Italian car design house and coach builder Pininfarina is up for sale. If things go right, our desi car maker Tata Motors will secure it. This will be icing on the cake as Tata Motors has recently acquired the luxury marquee brand Jaguar Land Rover.

The company Pininfarina is struggling with financial problems and is losing its influence and command over as one of the most successful car styling companies of the world. So, the decision to put it up for sale came as a part of an agreement to restructure the company's debt.

Currently, the Pininfarina family holds a 50.6 per cent stake in the company and has hired a bank to help it sell its shares. Indian car maker Tata Motors is a strong contender among its potential buyers.

One of Tata Motors’ contenders is a French industrial company called the Bolloré which is presently developing the Bluecar EV with Pininfarina. It has also been rumoured that Ford is also looking at the deal.

Tata Motors is in partnership with Fiat, which has its Ferraris and Maseratis designed by Pininfarina. So, the Indian car company is expected to have a better stand compared to others.

The car styling firm was established as the Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by Battista "Pinin" Farina. It has designed Ferraris and Maseratis and also other models such the Ford Streetka, Peugeot 406 Coupe, Fiat Coupe, Alfa Romeo Brera and Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin. The famous Pininfarnia has also worked with other major car companies like Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac, Jaguar and Volvo over the last seventy-eight years.

Pininfarina also worked on the Tata Prima concept car that was presented at Geneva Motor Show earlier this year.

Tata's Journey So far..

1954
Tata launched its first Mercedes Benz diesel truck, Telco.



1958
India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, walks through the apprentice shop at Jamshedpur.



1965
The owner of the first Mercedes Benz diesel truck, Sardar Kartar singh is presented with the key of the 1,00,000th truck.



1969
Employees cheer as the first Tata branded truck rolls out, ending the collaboration with Daimler Benz, Germany.



1977
Tata manufactures its first commercial vehicle at its plant in Pune.



1986
Tata launches its first light commercial vehicle from Telco, the Tata 407.



1992
Tata Estate, Telco's second passenger vehicle launched by JRD Tata and Ratan Tata.



1994
Tata Motors released its multi-utility car, Tata Sumo in the year 1994.
After that, there was no stopping the car manufacturing unit.



1998
Ratan Tata drives the first Tata Indica off the assembly line.



1998
Tata Motors produced an SUV, Tata Safari. It was the first SUV to be designed,
developed and manufactured entirely in India.



2002
Tata introduced India's most competitive indigenous sedan, the Indigo.



2003
Tata Engineering formally changes to Tata Motors.



2004
Tata Motors acquires Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company, South Korea.
The first range of Tata Novus vehicles from Tata Daewoo is launched soon after.



2004
Tata Motors starts its globalisation drive and launches the Tata Indica in South Africa.




2008
Tata Motors launched the most-awaited car of the year,
its one-lakh car called Nano, at the 9th Auto Expo.

Bajaj low cost US$ 2500 small car delayed

Bajaj says that its low cost US$ 2500 small car project has been delayed by around 5-6 months. This means that the car may not be able to see the light in 2011 as was being expected.

The car had given hope that the race for cheap car would not remain confined to Tata’s Nano car that is slated to be launched in April. Nano too has been delayed by several months.

Tata Motors had announced to launch its lakhtakiya (RS 1 lakh) car last October. But so far the company has not been able to launch the car.

Bajaj Auto in association with Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co. had said in January last month that they were going to throw competition to Ratan Tata’s pet project Nano. The two companies had said that that they would collaborate to produce a small car that would cost around $2,500 (Rs1 lakh at that time’s exchange rate), making it the second car in the world and in India with ambitions to be the cheapest four-wheeler on the road.

It was said at that time that the three firms will set up a joint venture company in which India’s No. 2 motorbike maker, Bajaj, will hold the single largest majority with half the ownership, while partners Nissan and Renault will hold a quarter each. On sale from 2011, the cars—some 400,000 of them each year—will be produced in Maharashtra, at Chakan, near the existing manufacturing facilities of both Bajaj and Renault.

But now Rajiv Bajaj says: "The project remains largely on schedule, though in the course of development some specifications have been reviewed, leading to adjustments in the overall schedule." It had been reported in a section of the media that the ultra low-cost (ULC) project would be delayed by more than a year as Rajiv Bajaj was not happy with the work done so far, and he demanded major modification in the design.

Rajiv Bajaj went on to add “Bajaj has primary responsibility for the design, development, manufacturing, and supply chain activities of this project. Bajaj is proceeding as before to implement this project and any financial or other constraints that Renault-Nissan may have, have no bearing on the ability of Bajaj to implement this project".

Tata Motors Reveals New Indica EV at Bologna Motor Show, Boasts 124 Mile Range

Debuting at this week's Bologna Motor Show was an all-new electric vehicle by India's Tata Motors called the Indica EV. The plug-in model was built as a result of the automaker's recent majority ownership of Norwegian electric-vehicle-technology company Miljo Grenland/Innovasjon.



Tata's EV employs high capacity lithium ion batteries featuring what the brand calls super polymer cells. With these advanced power supplies, Tata says the small four-passenger car can travel 200 km (124 mi) on a single eight hour charge and can hit 60 mph in a claimed less than 10 sec.

Currently no price has been set, as further testing is still underway. Tata expects to launch the Indica EV next summer.

Volkswagen Caddy – the New Commercial Car from Volkswagen

“India deserves a good taxi,” said Stefan Schaller, board spokesman for VW’s commercial vehicles business.

Volkswagen is planning to launch a new car in India, the Volkswagen Caddy as a low cost taxi for urban use. The commercial arm of Volkswagen may soon launch its new model, the VW Caddy, in India via a joint venture with an Indian partner.



The new Caddy will be a viable alternative to Tata Indigo and Tata Indica currently being used by Indian taxi operators. This would mark entry of the company in the Rs 43,000 crore commercial vehicle market in India. The existing model of VW caddy does not have any windows at the back – the windows are only in the front, but this mainly due to taxation rules in Europe. The existing model of the VW Caddy in the UK may not be feasible in India and the Indian version may come with a few modifications. Volkswagen has already announced that it plans to expand its network and product portfolio in India to occupy a larger market share. It had also announced that it will enter the commercial vehicle market in India as well.

VW Caddy has a seating capacity of seven passengers and is like a delivery van and a compact van rolled into one. Volkswagen has not announced its prices or other details but the car is expected to be priced around Rs.8-9 lakh in India.

Nano’s soft launch likely by year-end

Tata Motors is likely to go in for a soft launch of its low-budget car, Nano, by the year-end before hitting the road in a big way.

“Tata’s will launch 200-300 Nano cars by end this year, which will be the soft launch of Nano,” a vendor, who attended Tata Motors’ Vendor Meet, told reporters here on Thursday.

The company, which recently shifted its Nano plant to Gujarat from West Bengal, plans a major launch of the car during the second-half of the next year, he said.

The company spokesperson could not be contacted for comment.

However, officials of the Tata Motors a few days back had reiterated the stated position of launch in the last quarter of the current fiscal.

Tata's Nano project finds a home

India's giant Tata Group has found a new home to build the world's cheapest car, cosseted by assurances that the project's past traumas with land disputes and political infighting are over.

By choosing to take its "Nano" car factory to the business-friendly state of Gujarat, after abandoning the original site in West Bengal, Tata has sent a message that a stable investment climate is a pre-requisite for participation in India's economic growth.

In an interview published Wednesday in the Economic Times, group chairman Ratan Tata attacked what he saw as the political manipulation behind protests by local farmers that forced the pull-out from West Bengal.

"Political opposition should be subordinated to the better welfare of the country," Tata said, suggesting that those who backed the protestors did not necessarily have their best interests at heart.

"Who is the loser? Are the people really going to prosper, many of whom live below subsistence levels?" he said. "What about the people who had aspirations for jobs? These are the questions that come to my mind."

The decision to move the plant -- which was 90 percent complete -- followed a month of violent demonstrations by activists and evicted farmers who complained they had been forced to give up their land for a pittance to make room for the Nano factory.

Some farmers said their signatures handing over their land were forged by workers from West Bengal's governing communist party.

The issue provided a rallying point for social activists and opposition parties hoping to break the Marxists' 31-year rule in the state.

The Nano has attracted worldwide attention due to its planned price tag of just 100,000 rupees (2,100 dollars) and, as soon as it became clear that Tata was considering relocating, a number of states rushed to compete for the project.

The agreement with Gujarat was formalised on Tuesday, and Ratan Tata said the choice was largely rooted in the state's ability to provide the necessary land immediately.

"Gujarat was able to define the land, secure possession of the land, the main thing, at an unbelievably fast rate," he said.

"In fact, if we could move the plant in a day, we could have actually started operating here, given the fact that everything was ready," he added.

Gujarat is one of India's most industrialised states and has a relatively sound infrastructure that has already attracted a number of multinationals.

The Nano plant will make 250,000 Nanos a year, rising to 500,000, the company says. However, it is not clear when production will begin.

The group had hoped to launch the car by December at the latest, but Tata officials admitted Tuesday that a more realistic timeframe lay between January and March next year.

The first batch of Nanos will be rolled out from existing Tata Motors plants elsewhere in India in what Ratan Tata described as a "makeshift kind of operation".

He also insisted that the 350 million dollars Tata had already pumped into the West Bengal plant was in no sense a write-off loss.

"All the equipment will be moved, so there is no loss there. We can also retrieve and utilise a fair amount of the fixed assets," he said.

The tussle over the Nano site was one of many recent land disputes in India.

The struggles have pitted the interests of farmers, who say they will starve without their land, against those of business and India's government, which say the country needs to industrialise rapidly.

Biodiesel Fuels Mandatory For All Cars In India

The new biofuel policy was announced this month which makes blending of 10 percent bio-fuel with petrol mandatory from the year 2012. It will be hiked to blending of 17 percent from the year 2017. All the major auto companies have taken a note of the same and have started to design new plans for their future launches that will run in alternative fuels.

Car companies in India are either planning to launch new variants or make changes to their existing models. Tata Motors, Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki are planning to launch variant of their existing models while General Motors and Nissan are planning to bring this technology from their existing markets. This technology is applicable only on E10 and E20 engines which has left several car manufacturers wondering about the possible solution for their models. Presently, only Honda and General Motors have E10 compliant cars and General Motors is planning to introduce models with E20 engines as well. Such a move may further increase the car model prices in India.

On the other hand, Maruti is also planning to launch E10 compatible models by the end of current calendar year. “Our present lot is E5 compatible but we are confident of offering E10 to the market soon, since this requires minor changes in the engine,” said the official.

Tata considers all-new site for Nano production, protests at Sangur continue

After recent protests at its nearly constructed plant turned violent, India's Tata Motors is now heavily considering moving its production facilities from Singur in the state of West Benegal to the region of Karnataka in the south of India. Authorities from Tata confirmed the southern state offered 1,000 acres for the reestablishment of the automaker's Nano car production plant.

Prior to Tata finishing the plant's construction, local farmers had been protesting the arrival of Tata Motors for several years. They claim the automotive giant forcefully took their farmlands without consent and demand the return of their land. Government officials, though, say they can't return it due to it being already developed for automotive production.

In order to satisfy the locals, the West Senegal authorities offered to increase their compensation by 50 percent, but its was quickly refused by the lead opposition political party, the Trinamool Congress.

"In case we were thinking of relocating the plant from Singur he (Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa) would give all necessary support and assistance and incentives to make it happen," Tata Motors spokeswoman Ravi Kent stated. "We are watching the situation and actively looking at alternatives."

Tata had originally planned for its first run of Nano ultra-economy cars to roll off the assembly lines in October, but give the current situation, timetables have surely been delayed. Even with costs of raw materials on the rise and this latest debacle to deal with, Tata officials maintain the Nano will keep its 100,000 rupee ($2,500) price point.

Hyundai to Bring Full I-Series Small Cars to India

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. is bringing its entire i-series range of compact cars to India in a well-orchestrated plan.

Despite a gloomy market, Hyundai is riding high on the i10, launched last year. The new model in its first seven months sold more than 65,000 units in India.

The subcompact now offers a choice of a 1.1L Epsilon or 1.2L new Kappa engine. The newer mill has more power, improved fuel economy and meets Euro-5 emissions standards with 119 g/km of carbon dioxide.

“With continuous innovation in technology and design, the engine is the best in its class,” says Hyundai India Managing Director and CEO H.S. Lheem. “With continuous innovation in technology and design, the engine is the best in its class,” says Hyundai India Managing Director and CEO H.S. Lheem.

The Hyundai i20 Getz replacement, which makes its debut at the Paris auto show in October, will be available here by December, and in two years time the i30 and i40 will arrive. Additionally, the auto maker in the next three to four years will offer an 0.8L small car now under development that will launch globally from India.

The i20 will be built alongside the i10 at Hyundai’s recently opened, second Indian facility in Sriperumbudur. Parent Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. insists it is not looking to compete with the super low-priced Tata Nano, which will sell for $2,500.

“(The) Nano is not our focus segment. We do not have the capability or expertise to match Tata (Motors Ltd.),” Lheem says.

Hyundai India’s combined domestic sales and exports jumped 33.9% in August, to 44,710 units. That compares with declines at Maruti Suzuki Ltd., down 9.2%, and Tata, off 6.2%.

To meet the industry slowdown, Hyundai India has changed its production plans. In the year’s first-half, the auto maker built 58% of its cars for local consumption and 42% for exports.Second-half builds will see 45% earmarked for the domestic market and 55% for export.

Hyundai is India’s largest exporter of cars, shipping 23,100 units in August. Hyundai also has deferred its decision to introduce a third shift at its new plant with a 300,000-unit annual capacity in the wake of the slowing market here. The plant produces about 830 vehicles per day with two day shifts. The nightshift, if introduced, would have added 1,200 workers and taken output to 1,190 vehicles per day. Hyundai’s first plant, which also has an annual capacity of 300,000 units, employs three shifts and rolls out 1,080 vehicles per day.

Hyundai India sells 10 models, with 30 variants across all the segments.

The new Kappa mill is manufactured at Hyundai’s newly opened $250 million engine and transmission plant in Chennai that has annual capacity for 250,000 units.

Developed over a period of 48 months, the Kappa is being produced in three variations for India, Europe and other world markets.

The India version has a displacement of 1.2L and generates 80 hp. For Europe and other markets, the engine has a 2.5L displacement.

The Kappa-equipped i10 here will be available with a 4-speed automatic transmission. “Looking at the current market scenario, we are happy with Hyundai’s overall sales,” says Arvind Saxena, senior vice president. “This again reinforces our belief that a strong product portfolio will see you through the tough times.”

Europe awaiting Nano car’s electric version

Though the fate of Tata Motors’ Nano plant at Singur in West Bengal still hangs in a limbo, nations around the world still want to see the cheapest car driving on their roads at the earliest; preferably in its battery-operated, environment-friendly version.

“I can say that alike other nations, entire Europe is also eagerly awaiting the commercial launch of Nano. But keeping in mind the adverse impact of carbon dioxide (Co2) on environment, it would be advisable to have Nano’s electric version. I hope Tata (Ratan) is working on it,” said European Commission’s Director General for Energy and Transport Matthias Ruete.

Emission-free transport

Talking to The Hindu during his recent visit to India, where he forged ties for cooperation in the field of energy and transport between the European Union and India, Mr. Ruete said keeping in mind the growing cost of fuel, electric (battery operated) engine was the only solution to emission-free transport.

Informing that European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, has been working on a sustainable transport policy that aims at reducing of Co2 emissions and transform public transport, Mr. Ruete said decades ago the industry favoured combustion engine over electric engine as the price of fuel was never an issue, but things have changed now.

Moving backwards

“We are now moving backwards. And once we get the right battery technology for our automotive industry, we will be moving back directly to electric cars or indirectly to fuel cells or hydrogen-operated vehicles,” he added.

Predicting that in another 20 years electric cars will enjoy a good share in the market, Mr. Ruete said new efficient trams were being developed.

“I think soon logistics and delivery system in cities would be shifted to electric vehicles. More hi-speed trains would become integral part of public transport. The whole transport industry and businesses are working on developing new fuel-efficient models. We are also working on finding an alternative to kerosene,” he said, underlying the efforts being taken by the EU to reduce emissions.

Intermediate steps

Talking about alternate source of fuel, Mr. Ruete said bio-fuels or other source like CNG or LPG were only intermediate steps that can could work with existing technologies, but more comprehensive solutions were needed.

Stating that there was no necessary link between higher food prices and bio-fuels, though it might have a link in case of corn, Mr. Ruete said EU wanted that land being used for food production should not be used for bio-fuel production.

“We have to make sure that wasteland and spare land are used for bio-fuel production. We need to have an overall balance. We need to generate second generation bio-fuels from straw or other materials,” he added.

Tata Motors seeks new sites to make Nano

TATA Motors sought new sites for its cheap car plant yesterday after protests forced it to suspend work on the project, a crisis seen as a big blow to India's effort to attract investors.

The company, which became globally known when it bought British luxury cars Jaguar and Land Rover earlier this year, hoped to have its cut-priced "Nano" model rolling off the production lines and in showrooms by October.

But analysts say the launch of the groundbreaking vehicle, conceived by Tata chief Ratan Tata to get poor Indians off motorcycles, would be delayed by months if the assembly line was moved to other Tata factories in India.

A Tata statement late on Tuesday fell short of declaring the company was exiting Marxist-ruled West Bengal state in eastern India for good. But it would be "highly optimistic to think of a (swift) return to normalcy at the Singur site", a senior Tata official said.

The announcement shocked business leaders, who warned it would hurt India's image as an emerging economic superpower and viable investment destination.

Investor confidence would be "completely shattered", said Venu Srinivasan, chairman of leading Indian two-wheel seller TVS Motor.

India's most powerful businessman, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, has said the protests are "counter-productive for the country's economic growth, its global image as well as our ability to attract investments from across the world".

Tata Motors unveils electric versions of Indica and Ace

Domestic auto major Tata Motors on Wednesday unveiled the electric versions of passenger car 'Indica' and commercial vehicle 'Ace'.

The company has indicated that the electric Indica would be launched locally in about two years, without disclosing the price. The vehicle would be launched in Norway next year.

Tata Motor's President Ravi Kant told reporters that Norway has the necessary infrastructure in place to run electric cars.

The vehicles run on lithium batteries that were co developed by a Norwegian alternative fuel company and Tata Motor's research facility in the UK.

Suzuki plans shifting research, development to India

The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India, Tuesday said its Japanese parent Suzuki Motor Corp.

Suzuki wants to shift the bulk of its research and development work on cars with engine capacity of 1200cc or lower to India.“Now 60-70 percent of it is being developed in Japan. Suzuki wants to develop 90 percent in India,” company chairman R.C. Bhargava told a shareholder’s meeting here.

He, however, did not give any time frame.

The company also sees a greater focus on fuel-efficient small cars, hybrids, electric and multi-fuel cars, but has no plans to launch an ultra-cheap small car.

Tata Motors is scheduled to roll out the world’s cheapest car, Nano, for Rs.100,000 - or $2,500 - next month.

Maruti Suzuki said due to higher input costs, it sold 59,908 units in August compared to 65,968 units in the same month last year, a fall of 9.2 percent in sales - reflecting the single-largest decline in the past 30 months.

Setback for country if Nano forced out of WB: Industry leaders

Top industry leaders today warned that the country would suffer a big setback if Tata Motors was forced to withdraw the small car project from West Bengal.

Joining the ranks of protesters from the industry against the threat to industry, two days after RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani threw his weight behind Tatas, were Sunil Mittal, Jamshyd Godrej, C K Birla, Gautam Thapar, Venu Srinivasan apart from K V Kamath, President of CII.

"Tatas pulling out of West Bengal would be unfortunate for India...immediate political dialogue to find a solution towards keeping the project in West Bengal is imperative," Bharti Chairman and Group CEO Sunil Mittal said.

If the house of Tatas, known for its values and care for society, can face such resistance, the much needed fresh wave of industrialisation in the country would suffer, he added.

Expressing similar views, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Jamshyd N Godrej said,"... Nano's moving out would be a setback for not just West Bengal but for the entire country."

The small car project was a statement of the coming of age of Indian manufacturing, he said, adding "it is, therefore, very unfortunate that the entire project is facing a political situation which it does not warrant".

Sundaram Clayton Managing Director Venu Srinivasan said the controversy which was effectively stalling an 'iconic project' like the Nano was very unfortunate.

"We have in Ratan Tata one of the most socially conscious business leaders of our times. Their record of caring for all stakeholders in general and the community in particular is unparallelled. Considering the national importance of this project, it would be unfortunate if political considerations, come in the way of India's progress," Srinivasan said.

GM to launch new small car in India in 2009

General Motors Corp plans to launch a new small car in India in the second half of 2009, but has no plans to take on Tata Motor's low-cost Nano, its India head said on Thursday.

It will be a global car meant primarily for emerging markets and will have design inputs from India, Karly Slym said on the sidelines of a news conference.

Annual passenger vehicle sales in India are forecast to expand to more than 2 million units by 2010, with small cars accounting for more than two-thirds of sales.

Tata Motors may revive Daimler

TATA Group chairman Ratan Tata has told investors he is considering making a super- luxury version of the car that is a favourite of Britain’s reigning monarch, a British daily reported on Monday.

Ratan Tata, whose Tata Motors bought the marque as part of its $ 2.3- billion purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover earlier this year, was looking to revive Daimler, the Times reported. The car, which is a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II, may be remodeled into a super- luxury version to rival Bentley and Rolls- Royce — funded from a kitty of a billion pounds earmarked to develop new models at Tata- owned manufacturing units in Britain.

The paper said Tata’s plans, which include selling these cars to rich customers in Britain, Asia, Russia and the Middle East, had the support of analysts. It quoted analyst Garel Rhys of Cardiff University as saying: “Tata could make a very good job of this, especially if they target the space between where the top of Jaguar’s current range ends and where manufacturers such as Bentley kick in. Daimler has a fantastic heritage.”

Tata open to Fiat selling Nano abroad

TATA Motors Ltd is open to Italy’s Fiat SpA helping to sell the low-cost Nano model overseas, chairman Ratan Tata said on Tuesday.

Tata, India’s third- largest car maker, plans to launch the Nano later this year, priced at about $ 2,500 (Rs 1 lakh). “We have held talks about the Nano being marketed in markets where Fiat already has a strong presence. I am open to consider a partnership,” Tata said.

Fiat has a joint venture with Tata to manufacture and distribute cars, engines and commercial vehicles. Tata also said the Tata group was in talks with Italian defence and aerospace company Finmeccanica SpA about supplying helicopter parts. The head of Fiat’s Iveco truck unit told an Italian newspaper in May he expected to resume talks with Tata on possible accords after the India partner completed its acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover.