Tata auto news

British government drags its feet, Tata threatens to cancel Indica EV for the UK

In January, the UK government set aside £2.3 billion for loan guarantees to help automakers start producing electric cars on the island. In April, Tata applied for £10 billion from the program to build its Indica Vista EV. Last week the Indian firm was told that it would be another eight weeks before the Department for Business Innovation and Skills would decide on Tata's application.

Tata can't understand what the holdup is and plans to deliver a petition to the minister in charge of the program to make its case. It can't help that while Tata waits it's watching UK government figures give speeches at Nissan facilities in an attempt to woo the Japanese automaker to produce electric cars in England. Nor can it help that Tata's Norwegian arm has already been approved by for a loan by the Norwegian government to make electric cars there.

Tata is also waiting on its €340 billion European Investment Bank loan to be approved by the UK government. That loan was for Jaguar and Land Rover aid, but the issue of both loans is said to be about the British government wanting to make sure that Tata can repay the money. If the government doesn't decide soon, they might have much bigger things to deliberate on -- like more job losses at JLR...

REPORT: First Tata Nano delivered to customer in Mumbai [w/VIDEO]

The first customer to get a Tata Nano has taken delivery of the world's cheapest car today. Tata Motors delivered the car to a Mr. Ashok Raghunath Vichare of Mumbai who paid just 100,000 rupees ($2,053 U.S.) for the car. The Nano went on sale earlier this year and has been a source of endless discussion since it was announced in early 2008. While incredibly cheap, other numbers for the tiny car are also impressive: the Automotive Research Association of India has rated the Nano at 56 miles-per-gallon U.S., and the car produces emissions of just 101 grams of CO₂ per km.

The Indian market is only the first step for the Nano - A Euro-spec model recently passed European crash tests and the car is still scheduled to come to the U.S. at some point in the not-too-distant future. Click on the gallery below or check out a video of the first Nano handover ceremony after the jump.

Gallery: Tata Nano launch close-ups

Continue reading REPORT: First Tata Nano delivered to customer in Mumbai [w/VIDEO]

VIDEO: Tata Nano gets its crash on

To all those who thought reports of the Tata Nano passing European crash testing were worthless without pics, we now have a few of those plus one better: Video. It seems the actual Nano submitted for the 50 km/h side impact test and 56 km/h offset frontal impact test was a mildly fortified unit with some extra foam added to the cant rail (the structural member supporting the B-pillar), a reinforced front longitudinal structure, and some added structure behind the front bumper and in the front doors. A remotely-triggered airbag was also fitted for this test.

These comprehensive modifications were apparently enough to prompt Nic Fasci, the U.K. engineer running the tests, to say, "It looks no different from other cars doing this test. It's a good crash." Tata believes these results bode well for its chances of putting the Nano on European roads by 2012, when the Indian automaker is expected to debut a slightly larger version of the diminutive car complete with a full slate of safety equipment, including fully functional airbags.

Click here for a full rundown of the Tata Nano's European crash testing results and click past the break to watch the video. Hat tip to Darren J!

Gallery: Tata Nano European crash test

Continue reading VIDEO: Tata Nano gets its crash on

REPORT: Tata Nano passes European crash testing

The Tata Nano, the diminutive Indian four-door econobox rumored to eventually arrive in U.S. showrooms, has reportedly passed current European impact testing. According to Autocar, the offset front and side impact tests took place at the MIRA test center last week under supervision by an inspector from Britain's Vehicle Certification Authority. A spokesperson for Tata said the company is "delighted but not surprised" with the results, as the car had already been tested in India.

Sold only in its homeland right now, Tata seems determined to expand its business to Europe and North America. With that in mind, the automaker is working to upgrade the Nano to ensure the Lilliputian meets "Westernized" crash standards, including the European NCAP tests, and our own NHTSA requirements.

Gallery: Geneva 2009: Tata Nano Europa

Tata considers more Jaguar/Land Rover cuts after massive loss

India's Tata Motors has reported a net loss of $520 million (25.05 billion rupees) for the fiscal year ending in March of 2009. Over the same period one year earlier, Tata managed to earn 21.68 billion rupees in profit. What gives? Naturally, the global economic meltdown didn't do the automaker any favors, but the main problem can be sourced back to the poor performance of Jaguar and Land Rover, which the Indian automaker purchased from Ford last year with the help of a $3 billion bridge loan.

The fact that Jaguar Land Rover accounted for $504 million of that $520 million total loss means that more job cuts and plant shutdowns are in store for the ailing British duo. Says Tata Vice Chairman Ravi Kant:

We have sent people on sabbatical, gone for cheaper low-cost country sourcing and tight control in cash flows, and are assisting JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) for a major belt tightening.

Gallery: 2010 Land Rover Discovery 4

REPORT: Tata selects first 100,000 Nano buyers from lotto

Interest in the world's most affordable new car has been very strong, as Tata Motors reportedly received 206,000 applications for the $2,500 Nano. Due to production constraints, Tata ran a lottery to determine which of the applicants would receive one of the first 100,000 Nanos, and the Indian automaker is informing the "winners" in person.

The first 100,000 customers eligible to receive a Nano will get their car by the end of 2010, with deliveries beginning in July. The first allotment of 100,000 Nanos will be price protected to remain consistent with Tata's press release in March. Of the 106,000 Tata customers left out in the cold (for now) 51,000 chose not to keep their names in contention for future Nano lotteries. Those customers will be offered discounts on other Tata products.

The remaining 55,000 customers that are still in contention for future Nano lotteries are also being offered discounts. Since Tata collected a "booking fee" for the right to enter the lottery, that money will collect 8.5% interest if the Nano is delivered withing two years, and 8.75% if it takes longer than two years.

Gallery: Tata Nano

Rumormill: Could Tata Nano be sold in U.S. Fiat-Chrysler dealers?

Looks like Tata Motors is trying to get the Nano into U.S. dealerships by 2011. India's largest domestic automaker thinks "the world's cheapest car" could do well here, especially given our nation's economic conditions right now. The car will likely not be as cheap when it is re-engineered to meet U.S. crash and emissions standards, but it should still be inexpensive enough to attract quite a few buyers.

There remain a couple of big roadblocks, however. First of all, how do you re-engineer the car so quickly, and secondly, where do you sell it on these shores? Rumors of distribution through Jaguar/Land Rover dealers was quickly dispelled, so that's where Fiat-Chrysler may come in, argues New York Times correspondent Nick Kurczewski.

The logic proceeds as follows: Fiat and Tata already collaborate on several joint ventures. They share a huge factory in India. Tata sells Fiats in India. Tata gets to use Fiat diesel engines and Tata developed a pickup truck that will be sold as a Fiat as well. Adding Chrysler into the mix at least helps with distribution and possibly with engineering help for a speedy conversion to U.S. standards.

Kurczewski argues that the American market Nano could even revive the Autobianchi name for Fiat, as the Italian carmaker has expressed an interest in launching an entry-level brand below Fiat. A Fiat-Chrysler Nano would go a long way toward meeting the EPA's new 35 mpg standards, even after it's upgraded with air bags and possibly a more powerful three-cylinder engine to please American drivers.

Tata looking to raise ?1 billion to keep Jaguar, Land Rover going

We don't know how many times through the millennia one gentleman has told another, "Be careful with her - she's beautiful, but she's expensive." We would like to know if Alan Mullaly offered that warning to Ratan Tata (above) before the latter bought Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR). As with the Blue Oval before it, Tata Motors is about to throw billions at the English luxury marques and it is looking for help doing it.

Tata wanted the British government to guarantee a £340 million loan ($515M USD) Tata received from the European Investment Board. The government refused to underwrite the entire amount, and it was written that the government additionally wanted Tata to invest up to another £400M ($605M) in JLR (on top of the £900M ($1.36B) Tata pitched in last summer) and put £50M ($76B) on the table before it would underwrite anything. The government is also said to have wanted veto power on top executive choices and labor plans.

Those talks, unsurprisingly, went nowhere. Now Tata is looking to banks for £1 billion ($1.5B) in cash and underwriting help. Citigroup is has begun the search for lenders to provide the money by September, which everyone expects to come with heavy-duty interest rates. With the state of the market and Tata's other recent purchases, 2009 is shaping up as an expensive year for the Indian company.

REPORT: Tata Motors says it has 500,000 Nano application forms

The Nano is off to a smashing start, with Tata reportedly claiming it has already received 500,000 application forms since the car went on sale April 9. Tata Motors sent out order forms to 30,000 locations throughout India, and charged 300 rupees ($6.00 in US funds) to anyone that filled out the form. Tata Motors has generated the equivalent of $3 million so far, and interested parties have until April 25 to order their own Nano. The company is expecting between 750,000 and one million orders by the deadline, giving the Indian automaker up to $6 million in income without making a single vehicle. The State Bank of India, which has about 25% of the total orders to date, will finance the Nano for up to seven years at interest rate of 10%.

One million pre-order applications is a mighty impressive sum for the $2,500 micro car, and it's a number that Tata Motors doesn't even intend to hit in the Nano's initial batch. Tata will fill 100,000 orders in the first tranche, and it intends to hold a raffle to see which of the orders will get fulfilled. Tata Motors will begin delivering the Nano this July.

Gallery: Tata Nano

Tata says it sells over 51,000 Nano "booking forms" in five days

Tata knew pent-up demand for its super-cheap Nano would be so high in advance of its official delivery date that the Indian automaker set up an unique pre-ordering system allowing potential customers to sign up with booking forms. After all these forms have been collected, a computer will randomly choose the first 100,000 people to take possession in July.

That process began just five days ago on April 1st, and Tata has already sold over 51,000 booking forms to its dealer network and individual customers, with another 30,000 or so being taken from a number of Tata partners. Each order form is being sold for 300 Rupees, which is about $6.00 in U.S. funds. Prices for individual Nanos are reportedly ranging from between 95,000 and 145,000 Rupees ($1,880 to $2,780), which officially makes this the World's Cheapest Car.

One thing seems sure: Tata is going to sell a ton of these cars. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on your particular viewpoint. It's almost a certainty that people will be safer in the four-wheeled enclosed Nano than on the little scooters and cycles they are currently riding, but a number of environmental groups have voiced concerns over the impact this many new cars will have on their surroundings. Regardless of how this ultimately plays out, this is only the beginning.

Gallery: Tata Nano