Tata Track: January 2009

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Tata Indica celebrates decade of sales with special edition

This cute little guy is the Tata Indica Vista, a special edition created to celebrate ten years of Indica sales. The Indica has perennially been one of India's best selling cars, as well as being Tata's prime mover. Given credit for greatly lifting the fortunes of the company, the Indica walks off with 78% of sales among the cars built on its platform (like the Indigo and Marina).
With design elements that might be generously taken from Ford's European design language, the Vista's changes from the regular Indica are all cosmetic. It will get a specially designed number plate, an interior with better materials and design, an integrated audio system and double-stitched seats. It will come in a selection of colors and a variety of wheel options, and if you're keen on the Vista, you can even read a review. For the rest of you, the full press release is after the jump. Let's hope Tata can create the same magic with Jaguar and Land Rover after ten years of ownership.

[ Via: Indian Autos Blog ]
[ Tag: hatchback, india, indica, indica vista, IndicaVista, special edition, SpecialEdition, tata, tata indica, tata indica vista, TataIndica, TataIndicaVista ]

Monday, January 5, 2009

Tata Motors sales plunge by nearly half

Filed under: Car Buying, Trends, Etc., Earnings/Financials, India, Tata

Even when you (intend to) make the cheapest brand-new car in the world, you can't escape an economic downturn. Global jitters and year-end hemming and hawing have conspired to slice Tata's December sales figures nearly in half compared to a year ago. December is a traditionally slow month for auto sales as buyers try to put off expenditures until the next year (when incentives are more attractive on existing stock), but even accounting for the bargain hunters, this is a major drop.

Everyone, everywhere is down, and Tata Motors stock has taken a beating thanks to the economy and costly external issues like plant troubles. That said, recent interest rate cuts have buoyed company shares in hopes that the Nano (not to mention Saint CarBuyer) will soon arrive, and if nothing else, they still have the Indica's longevity to celebrate.

Gallery: Tato Nano - Live from Geneva