Tata explores new small car platform

Tata Motors is planning a new platform for a compact car codenamed X4.

The idea is "purely at an exploratory stage" right now but indications are that the company is keen to take it forward quickly.

There are reports doing the rounds that the car could be sandwiched between the Nano and Indica in terms of pricing which could mean a product in the Rs 2.5-3 lakh bracket. It will take a good 36 months before it is out on the roads by which time the Nano could be doing over 600,000 units annually.

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It also remains to be seen if the company's ally, Fiat, will be involved in the X4. For the moment, the two are yet to collaborate on a car project though there have been talks of a more concrete proposal emerging for global markets.

A spokesman for Tata Motors said it was not the company's policy to comment on future product launches.

Over the last 2-3 years, Tata Motors has worked aggressively on the new Indica (X1), PhoenixSprint (X2) and, of course, the Nano (X3). The fact that it is planning yet another small car is reflective of the direction it wants to take in the future.

What is even more interesting, sources say, is that the company is also working on a MPV (multipurpose vehicle) version of the X1, given the growing potential of this product segment. This has been evident in the case of the Toyota Innova which has also prompted Mahindra & Mahindra to conceive of the Ingenio MPV due to be launched in the coming months.

It may be recalled that Tata Motors had launched a station-wagon version of the Indigo, the Marina, a little over three years ago. However, the volumes here are not as much as the MPV space, which explains why it makes sense to have one from the X1 platform.

This vehicle could, however, debut only in 2009-10 after the new Indica is launched towards the second half of this fiscal. The car will be fitted with the Fiat 1.3 Multijet diesel engine, which is already part of the Suzuki Swift, DZire and Palio Stile.

It is absolutely clear now that Tata Motors is focusing on being a dominant player in the small car segment. It has already created a world record of sorts with the Nano as far as the pricing quotient is concerned. The top-end petrol version will be barely Rs 1.8 lakh (on-road) unless input costs go out of control as is the case now especially with steel.

The Indica begins with a price tag of Rs 3 lakh plus and this gap could be filled with the X4 though this is purely speculative at this stage. Further, there is really no guarantee if there will be a softening of raw material prices in the future which could even see this project on hold for a while.

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Of course, the diesel version of the Nano which is due to be launched during 2009-10 will be priced closer to the Rs 2.5 lakh mark. This will still make it the least expensive diesel-driven small car in the Indian market.

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