It’s been about three years since Tata bought Jaguar and Land Roverfrom one of America’s big top three - Ford - and now the company is thinking of taking the last few necessary steps to completely cut ties with the former owner. A new Tata annual report has been released stating that the company is considering a joint engine-development program with its Jaguar Land Rover unit. If pushed through, the new engine could cement the two brands’ independence from Ford.
"To optimize the synergistic strengths between JLR and Tata Motors in India, an examination is also under way on a joint engine development program which would have manufacturing facilities both in the U.K. and India," Ratan Tata said in a recent interview.
These new engines will be a big step for the Indian company, who are beginning to pick up speed with models like the Range Rover Evoque and the new Jaguar XK and XF. Our concern will be for future models which will need adequate engines to obtain proper performance numbers matching that of the Ford-built engines. Whether or not Tata has the ability to pull something like this off is still up in the air.
Poor Tata.
On any other motor show, their cute little concept vehicle called the ’Pixel’ would have gathered its fair share of attention. Unfortunately, it’s the Geneva Motor Show, where every automaker and their mother are all looking to put their best feet forward in all their attempts to showcase their latest rides.
So the Pixel has gone on largely unnoticed. So we’re here to show some love to our buddies over at India and give the Pixel its just do.
For starters, the Pixel Concept has got a few features that will surely endear Tata to futuristic city-car lovers, including the set of scissor doors that opens all the way up to save external ergonomic space. It also has a new transmission called the "Zero Turn toroidal traction-drive Infinitely Variable Transmission" (IVT). What it does, apart from all the standard items on its list, is rotate one rear wheel forward and the other backward that when combined with acute angles on the front wheels, allowing the car to have a turning circle of just 8.5 feet.
As for the engine, there’s nothing exciting about. It’s a 1.2-liter turbocharged diesel engine that carries an estimated fuel consumption of a pretty efficient 69 miles per gallon.
Say what you want about Tata and the Nano, but you have to give the Indian automaker some credit for thinking way out of the box with their Pixel Concept.
It’s cute, charming, and stylish - three qualities that you can’t say about the Nano.
Although you’ve probably never heard of the Tata Safari, it’s a pretty big seller in other parts of the world. For 2011, there is a new model, although it still appears to be stuck in 1999. It will go on sale in India in the early part of 2011, followed by Europe later in the year.
The new model will pick up where the old one left off, but with more technical updates, a new design, and more attention to fit and finish. This means that the price will rise, but Tata is debating on continuing the production of the previous model, as a low cost variant. Hard to imagine BMW doing that with one of their models isn’t it?
The 2011 Tata Safari SUV will be based on its sibling Aria’s platform which will make the car more rigid and a better handler. The new model will also have lots of space and will be loaded with features such as a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a silver finish on the center console, Climate Control, and much more.
Tata will also use some of the technical know how from Jaguar Land Rover on the new Safari to help sales in Europe. The motor should be 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel with 140 horsepower.
Hit the jump for the full review.
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Tata Motors may have a slew of SUVs on its portfolio, not to mention owning Land Rover, but the Indian-based automaker is finally ready to dive into the crossover market with the launch of the Aria.
The crossover is powered by a 2.2-liter diesel engine that produces around 140 horsepower. It also comes with a number of features including traction control, ABS, ESP, six air bags, and a higher ride height that makes it look more like an SUV than what’s classified as a crossover.
The Aria’s interior is also chalk-full of high-end features including power mirrors, rain sensing wipers, a GPS nav-sat system, automatic climate control, height adjustable seats, glove box chiller, and Bluetooth. The features seem fitting for a vehicle Tata describes as a “luxurious creation with the finesse of a sedan and the muscle of an SUV all blended in one car.”
Tata has yet to release pricing and availability of the Aria crossover, but according to the brand, the car will most likely be sold in India exclusively.
Tata Motors Ltd., the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, came away with a nice chunk of change in the first quarter of the automotive fiscal year. Not to mention a healthy climb for its stock.
The company posted a $430 million profit, which helped the stock climb 5.6 percent to a 19-year high, according to Bloomberg. That is nearly twice the amount of profit that analysts – and we use that term loosely – predicted. Sales for the company increased by 64 percent to $5.8 billion.
Jaguar Land Rover played a big role in all this, posting a $370 million profit during the first quarter. Sales increased from 35,947 to 57,153. That sales jump can easily be attributed to their fantastic new cars, including the XF and the XJ.
Tata was even successful with their own car and truck division, as it saw a 48 percent increase to a total of 181,708 vehicles sold, which included 14,779 Nano cars. That growth can be attributed to the strength of India’s economy.
