Land Rover tech for Tata
British off-road brand to play pivotal role in Indian maker Tata's plan to modernise its vehicle rangeOne of India's biggest vehicle manufacturers, Tata Motors, will leverage Land Rover's expertise to develop its next-generation SUVs and utes, with engine sharing the tip of the iceberg.
As the Indian company reintroduced the Tata name in Australia this week with the launch of the Tata Xenon ute, the company is already working on next-generation utes that are almost certain to share engines and possibly even platforms with Land Rover.
Tata Motor's Executive Director of Commercial Vehicles, Ravi Pisharody, was in Australia for the Xenon ute launch and explained that technology sharing between Land Rover and Tata was a given.
In 2008 Tata bought Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) from Ford at a cost of around $2.3 billion and is now beginning to fully leverage one of its most lucrative assets.
Queried over whether we'll see technology sharing in the near future between Tata and Land Rover, Pisharody was unequivocal.
"Absolutely. Like an engine which JLR wants to double up. And if it's possible for a common platform we'll look at that too," he said.
Car-makers frequently investigate ways to share vehicle components to ameliorate research and development costs, and Tata is currently weighing up the potential of building JLR engines in India.
"Because the home country of the company is now in India, despite being a UK-based brand, we will look at all things that make sense for us to leverage in India.
"We haven't come to a conclusion yet that JLR engines will be built in India. These are things we're examining," stated Pisharody.
It's been reported that the next-generation Land Rover Defender 4WD, due in 2016 and the most likely JLR vehicle to share parts with upcoming Tata utes and SUVs, will use a unique platform.
Pisharody wouldn't be drawn on whether Land Rover will have exclusive access to the new platform.
"I'm not able to comment fully on that," he said. "But I can tell you we have a monthly touch point where we sit together [with JLR] and discuss and exchange views on what's happening.
“We have a fair idea of what's happening with JLR platforms and they are interested in what's happening with our UV and SUV platforms.
"Where possible, if there's scope for synergies we'll look at it," said Pisharody.
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