Tata ramps up European launches

Tata Motors has set their sights on huge expansion in both Europe and the US with a rash of new models, designed to appeal to those markets.

Tata Motors boss Ravi Kant has told Autocar that selling a rash of new models in the UK is in his sights. "We need to be selective but seven or eight types of vehicle would be about right," said Kant.

Kant admitted that he expects the current Indica and Indigo models to go on sale in the UK sometime this year, once a new UK distributor has been selected. He also wants the Aria crossover, recently unveiled at the Auto Expo to be sold in Europe, while the company has already confirmed that the Nano Europa will go on sale in the UK around 2011 and in the US some time later.

Ravi Kant also indicated that the cars would be changed for Europe. "We would be engineering cars that are not just for India, we want to put the philosophy of the Nano into effect," he said, referring to the huge engineering changes being applied to the ultra-low budget Nano to enable it to comply to European and US regulations.

However Kant is keen for prices not to creep up. All of Tata’s offerings will be "good value" he said.