Tata Motors Eyes New Jaguar, Land Rover Models

MUMBAI—Tata Motors Ltd. is considering a plan to introduce new models under its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands and also likely will develop some of its cars for international markets.

India's biggest auto maker by sales is looking to introduce a station wagon, an entry-level vehicle and a new roadster under the Jaguar brand, Chairman Ratan Tata said in the company's annual report for the last fiscal year ended March 31.

The report was released Monday.

Tata Motors acquired U.K-based Jaguar-Land Rover for $2.3 billion from Ford Motor Co. in March 2008. The acquisition happened just before the global economic slowdown hit demand for vehicles and dented auto makers' revenue, especially in their traditional strongholds of the U.S. and Europe.

Tata Motors posted a consolidated net loss in the first quarter of the last fiscal year ended March 31, hit by a liquidity squeeze and depressed demand in JLR's key markets. The brands' performance improved later and JLR posted a net profit of 3 million pounds ($4.7 million) for the fiscal year.

The annual report said most of the major markets have started showing recovery in demand for the JLR brands. It said the brands will focus more on emerging markets like China and the Middle East.

Tata Motors plans to revamp the entire Land Rover model portfolio and is developing a new Range Rover sport-utility vehicle model, Evoque. It also plans to make fuel-efficient and hybrid vehicles under the Land Rover brand.

As part of its bid to expand in international markets, Tata Motors will consider setting up manufacturing plants in foreign locations, the report said.

The company recently announced it would start an assembly plant in South Africa for commercial vehicles.

In the last fiscal year, the company's commercial vehicle exports grew moderately by 4.7% to 27,878 vehicles, while its passenger vehicle exports declined 9.9% to 6,231 vehicles. Tata Motors expects the numbers to improve now.

The company said it is working to develop variants of its Indica Vista and Indigo Manza cars and also of the Nano, the cheapest car in the world, for overseas markets.