Tata Motors Limited (formerly
TELCO, short for
Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company) is an Indian
multinationalautomotive manufacturing company headquartered in
Mumbai, India, and a member of the
Tata Group. Its products include passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses, construction equipment and military vehicles.
[3]
Tata Motors has auto manufacturing and assembly plants in
Jamshedpur,
Pantnagar,
Lucknow,
Sanand,
Dharwad, and
Pune in India, as well as in Argentina, South Africa, Great Britain and Thailand. It has research and development centres in Pune, Jamshedpur, Lucknow, and Dharwad, India and in South Korea, Great Britain and Spain. Tata Motors' principal subsidiaries purchased the English premium car maker
Jaguar Land Rover (the maker of Jaguar and Land Rover cars) and the South Korean commercial vehicle manufacturer
Tata Daewoo. Tata Motors has a bus-manufacturing joint venture with
Marcopolo S.A. (
Tata Marcopolo), a construction-equipment manufacturing joint venture with
Hitachi (
Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery), and a joint venture with
Fiat Chrysler which manufactures automotive components and Fiat Chrysler and Tata branded vehicles.
Founded in 1945 as a manufacturer of
locomotives, the company manufactured its first commercial vehicle in 1954 in a collaboration with
Daimler-Benz AG, which ended in 1969. Tata Motors entered the passenger vehicle market in 1991 with the launch of the
Tata Sierra, becoming the first Indian manufacturer to achieve the capability of developing a competitive indigenous automobile.
[4] In 1998, Tata launched the first fully indigenous Indian passenger car, the
Indica, and in 2008 launched the
Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car. Tata Motors acquired the South Korean truck manufacturer
Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company in 2004 and purchased
Jaguar Land Rover from
Ford in 2008.
TATA Hexa is a crossover vehicle launched in January 2017. This vehicle is the successor of
TATA Aria.
The first-generation(1998–07)
Tata Indica; one of the best-selling cars in the history of the Indian automobile industry
Tata entered the commercial vehicle sector in 1954 after forming a joint venture with
Daimler-Benz of Germany. After years of dominating the commercial vehicle market in India, Tata Motors entered the passenger vehicle market in 1991 by launching the Tata Sierra, a multi utility vehicle. Tata subsequently launched the
Tata Estate (1992; a
station wagon design based on the earlier 'TataMobile' (1989), a light commercial vehicle), the
Tata Sumo (1994; LCV) and the Tata Safari (1998; India's first sports utility vehicle).
Tata launched the Indica in 1998, the first fully indigenous Indian passenger car. Although initially criticized by auto analysts, its excellent fuel economy, powerful engine, and an aggressive marketing strategy made it one of the best-selling cars in the history of the Indian automobile industry. A newer version of the car, named Indica V2, was a major improvement over the previous version and quickly became a mass favourite. Tata Motors also successfully exported large numbers of the car to South Africa. The success of the Indica played a key role in the growth of Tata Motors.
[6]
In 2004, Tata Motors acquired Daewoo's South Korea-based truck manufacturing unit, Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company, later renamed Tata Daewoo.
[7]
On 27 September 2004, Tata Motors rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to mark the listing of Tata Motors.
[8]
In 2005, Tata Motors acquired a 21% controlling stake in the Spanish bus and coach manufacturer
Hispano Carrocera.
[9]Tata Motors continued its market area expansion through the introduction of new products such as buses (Starbus and Globus, jointly developed with subsidiary Hispano Carrocera) and trucks (Novus, jointly developed with subsidiary Tata Daewoo).
In 2006, Tata formed a joint venture with the Brazil-based Marcopolo, Tata Marcopolo Bus, to manufacture fully built buses and coaches.
[10]
In 2008, Tata Motors acquired the English car maker Jaguar Land Rover, manufacturer of the Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company.
[11][12][13][14]
In May 2009, Tata unveiled the Tata World Truck range jointly developed with Tata Daewoo;
[15] the range went on sale in South Korea, South Africa, the
SAARC countries, and the Middle East at the end of 2009.
[15]
Tata acquired full ownership of Hispano Carrocera in 2009.
[16]
In 2010, Tata Motors acquired an 80% stake in the Italian design and engineering company Trilix for €1.85 million. The acquisition formed part of the company's plan to enhance its styling and design capabilities.
[18]
In 2012, Tata Motors announced it would invest around
₹6 billion in the development of Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicles in collaboration with
DRDO.
[19]
In 2013, Tata Motors announced it will sell in India, the first vehicle in the world to run on compressed air (engines designed by the French company
MDI) and dubbed "Mini CAT".
In 2014, Tata Motors introduced first Truck Racing championship in India "T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship".
On 26 January 2014, the Managing Director
Karl Slym was found dead. He fell from the 22nd floor to the fourth floor of the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok, where he was to attend a meeting of Tata Motors Thailand.
[20]
On 2 November 2015, Tata Motors announced
Lionel Messi as global brand ambassador at
New Delhi, to promote and endorse passenger vehicles globally.
[21]
On 27 December 2016, Tata Motors announced the Bollywood actor
Akshay Kumar as brand ambassador for its commercial vehicles range.
[22]
Tata Motors has vehicle assembly operations in India, Great Britain, South Korea, Thailand, Spain and South Africa. It plans to establish plants in
Turkey, Indonesia, and Eastern Europe.
Tata Motors CarsEdit
The Tata Pr1ma
Tata Motors Cars is a division of Tata Motors which produces passenger cars under the Tata Motors marque. Tata Motors is among the top four passenger vehicle brands in India with products in the compact, midsize car, and utility vehicle segments.
[23] The company's manufacturing base in India is spread across Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Pune (Maharashtra), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Pantnagar (Uttarakhand), Dharwad (Karnataka) and Sanand (Gujarat). Tata's dealership, sales, service, and spare parts network comprises over 3,500 touch points.
[23] Tata Motors has more than 250 dealerships in more than 195 cities across 27
states and four
Union Territories of India.
[24] It has the third-largest sales and service network after
Maruti Suzuki and
Hyundai.
Tata LPT Trucks made at overseas plants
Tata also has franchisee/joint venture assembly operations in Kenya, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Russia, and Senegal.
[25] Tata has dealerships in 26 countries across 4 continents.
[26] Tata is present in many countries, it has managed to create a large consumer base in the
Indian Subcontinent, namely India, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Sri Lanka and Nepal. Tata is also present in Italy,
[27] Spain,
[28] Poland,
[29] Romania,
[30]Turkey,
[31] Chile,
[32] South Africa,
[33] Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria and Australia.
Tata DaewooEdit
The Tata Prima heavy truck on the roads of Lucknow
Tata Daewoo (officially Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company and formerly Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company) is a commercial vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors. It is the second-largest heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer in South Korea and was acquired by Tata Motors in 2004. The principal reasons behind the acquisition were to reduce Tata's dependence on the Indian commercial vehicle market (which was responsible for around 94% of its sales in the MHCV segment and around 84% in the light commercial vehicle segment) and expand its product portfolio by leveraging on Daewoo's strengths in the heavy-tonnage sector.
Tata Motors has jointly worked with Tata Daewoo to develop trucks such as Novus and World Truck and buses including GloBus and StarBus. In 2012, Tata began developing a new line to manufacture competitive and fuel-efficient commercial vehicles to face the competition posed by the entry of international brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Navistar into the Indian market.
[34]
Tata HispanoEdit
Tata Hispano Habit bus at Madrid Airport
Tata Hispano Motors Carrocera, S.A. was a bus and coach manufacturer based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors. Tata Hispano has plants in Zaragoza, Spain, and Casablanca, Morocco. Tata Motors first acquired a 21% stake in
Hispano Carrocera SA in 2005,
[9] and purchased the remaining 79% for an undisclosed sum in 2009, making it a fully owned subsidiary, subsequently renamed Tata Hispano. In 2013, Tata Hispano ceased production at its Zaragoza plant.
[35]
Jaguar Land RoverEdit
Jaguar Land Rover PLC is an English premium automaker headquartered in
Whitley, Coventry, Great Britain, and has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors since June 2008, when it was acquired from
Ford Motor Company of USA.
[36] Its principal activity is the development, manufacture and sale of
Jaguar Cars luxury and sports cars and
Land Rover premium four-wheel-drive vehicles.
TML DrivelinesEdit
TML Drivelines Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors engaged in the manufacture of gear boxes and axles for heavy and medium commercial vehicles. It has production facilities at Jamshedpur and Lucknow. TML Forge division is also a recent acquisition of TML Drivelines. TML Drivelines was formed through the merger of HV Transmission and HV Axles .
Tata TechnologiesEdit
The British engineering and design services company Incat International, which specialises in engineering and design services and product lifecycle management in the automotive, aerospace, and engineering sectors, is a wholly owned subsidiary of TTL. It was acquired by TTL in August 2005 for ₹4 billion.
European Technical CentreEdit
The Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) is an automotive design, engineering, and research company based at
Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) on the campus of the
University of Warwick in Great Britain. It was established in 2005 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors. It was the joint developer of the World Truck.
[37]
In September 2013, it was announced that a new
National Automotive Innovation Campus would be built at WMG at Warwick's main campus at a cost of £100 million.
[38][39] The initiative will be a partnership between Tata Motors, the university, and Jaguar Land Rover, with £30 million in funding coming from Tata Motors.
[40]
Tata MarcopoloEdit
Tata Marcopolo is a bus-manufacturing joint venture between Tata Motors (51%) and the Brazil-based Marcopolo S.A. (49%). The joint venture manufactures and assembles fully built buses and coaches targeted at developing mass rapid transportation systems. It uses technology and expertise in chassis and aggregates from Tata Motors, and know-how in processes and systems for bodybuilding and bus body design from Marcopolo. Tata Marcopolo has launched a low-floor city bus which is widely used by transport corporations in many Indian cities. Its manufacturing facility is based in Dharwad, Karnataka State, India.
Fiat-TataEdit
Fiat-Tata is an India-based joint venture between Tata and
Fiat Automobiles which produces Fiat and Tata branded passenger cars, as well as engines and transmissions. Tata Motors has gained access to Fiat's
diesel engine and
transmission technology through the joint venture.
[41]
The two companies formerly also had a distribution joint venture through which Fiat products were sold in India through joint Tata-Fiat dealerships. This distribution arrangement was ended in March 2013; Fiats have since been distributed in India by
Fiat Automobiles India Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiat.
[42][43]
Tata Hitachi Construction MachineryEdit
Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery is a joint venture between Tata Motors and
Hitachi which manufactures excavators and other construction equipment. It was previously known as Telcon Construction Solutions.
Commercial vehiclesEdit
The Tata TL
A Tata 407 water truck
A loaded semi-forward Tata truck
TATA Semi-Forward Cab 1210SE Truck
TATA 1210 Series - long running production model
Tata twin-axle lorry in South India
- Tata Ace
- Tata Super Ace
- Tata TL/Telcoline/207 DI pickup truck
- Tata 407 Ex and Ex2
- Tata 709 Ex
- Tata 807 (Steel cabin chassis, cowl chassis, medium bus chassis, steel cabin + steel body chassis)
- Tata 809 Ex and Ex2
- Tata 909 Ex and Ex2
- Tata 1109 (Intermediate truck)
- Tata 1512 (medium bus chassis)
- Tata 1612/1616 (heavy bus chassis)
- Tata 1618 (semilow-floor bus chassis)
- Tata 1623 (rear-engined low-floor bus chassis)
- Tata 1518C (Medium truck) 10 ton
- Tata 1613/1615 (medium truck)
- Tata 2515/2516 (medium truck)
- Tata Starbus (branded buses for city, intercity, school bus, and standard passenger transportation)
- Tata Divo (Hispano Divo fully built luxury coach)
- Tata CityRide (12- to 20-seater buses for intracity use)
- Tata 3015 (heavy truck)
- Tata 3118 (heavy truck) (8×2)
- Tata 3516 (heavy truck)
- Tata 4018 (heavy truck)
- Tata 4923 (ultraheavy truck) (6×4)
- Tata Novus (heavy truck designed by Tata Daewoo)
- Tata Prima (the World Truck designed by Tata Motors and Tata Daewoo)
- Tata Prima LX (stripped-down version of Tata Prima)
- Tata Prima (Racing Trucks)
- Tata Ultra (ICV Segment)
- Tata Winger - Maxivan
Military vehiclesEdit
- Tata LSV (Light Specialist Vehicle)
- Tata Mine Protected Vehicle (4×4)
- Tata 2 Stretcher Ambulance
- Tata 407 Troop Carrier, available in hard top, soft top, 4×4, and 4×2 versions
- Tata LPTA 713 TC (4×4)
- Tata LPT 709 E
- Tata SD 1015 TC (4×4)
- Tata LPTA 1615 TC (4×4)
- Tata LPTA 1621 TC (6×6)
- Tata LPTA 1615 TC (4×2)
- Tata Landrover 1515 F
- TATA SUMO 4*4
- Tata Xenon
- Tata 207
Tata Motors proposed overhaul of armoured fighting vehicles and infantry main combat vehicles in 2015. The inter-ministerial committee was chaired by Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) approved most of the proposals from the defense Manufacturing sector in India.
[44]
Electric vehiclesEdit
Tata Motors has unveiled electric versions of the
Tata Indica passenger car powered by TM4 electric motors and inverters,
[45] as well as the
Tata Ace commercial vehicle, both of which run on lithium batteries.
Tata Motors' UK subsidiary, Tata Motors European Technical Centre, has bought a 50.3% holding in electric vehicle technology firm Miljøbil Grenland/Innovasjon of
Norway for
US$1.93 million, which specialises in the development of innovative solutions for electric vehicles, and plans to launch the electric Indica hatchback in Europe next year.
[46][47][48] In September 2010, Tata Motors presented four CNG–Electric Hybrid low-floored Starbuses to the Delhi Transport Corporation, to be used during the
Commonwealth Games. These were the first environmentally friendly buses to be used for public transportation in India.
Tata NanoEdit
Tata Nano is often cited as the world's most affordable car
The Nano was launched in 2009 as a
city car intended to appeal as an affordable alternative to the section of the Indian populace that is primarily the owner of motorcycles and has not bought their first car. Initially priced at ₹100,000 (US$1,500), the vehicle attracted a lot of attention for its relatively low price.
Tata Ace was India's first mini truck
Tata Ace, India's first indigenously developed sub-one-ton
minitruck, was launched in May 2005. The minitruck was a huge success in India with auto analysts claiming that Ace had changed the dynamics of the light commercial vehicle (LCV) market in the country by creating a new market segment termed the
small commercial vehicle segment. Ace rapidly emerged as the first choice for transporters and single truck owners for city and rural transport. By October 2005, LCV sales of Tata Motors had grown by 36.6% to 28,537 units due to the rising demand for Ace. The Ace was built with a load body produced by Autoline Industries.
[49] By 2005, Autoline was producing 300 load bodies per day for Tata Motors.
Ace is still a top seller for TML with 500,000 units sold by June 2010.
[50] In 2011, Tata Motors invested Rs 1000 crore in Dharwad Plant, Karnataka, with the capacity of 90,000 units annually and launched two models of 0.5-T capacity as Tata Ace Zip, Magic Iris.
[51]
Ace has also been exported to several Asian, European, South American, and African countries and all-electric models are sold through
Polaris Industries' Global Electric Motorcars division.
[52] In
Sri Lanka, it is sold through Diesel and Motor Engineering (DIMO) PLC under the name of DIMO Batta.
The Tata 407 is a light commercial vehicle (LCV) that has sold over 500,000 units since its launch in 1986.
[53] In India, this vehicle dominates market share of the LCV category, accounting for close to 75% of LCV sales.
The
Bajaj Pulsar RS400 will share its powertrain with the KTM RC390 - i.e.
375cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled with fuel-injected technology. 
TVS Apache RTR 300 will share its platform, engine and components with the BMW G310 R. (Representational Image)
Tesla Model 3 is powered by a 60kw hour lithium-ion battery pack that promises a range of around 300kms per charge.
