Tata Motors is believed to be investing in an all-new advanced modular product (AMP) platform that will become the basis for multiple new models including a compact car, a hatchback, a sedan, and a MPV.
The company is looking toward the AMP platform to regain lost ground in the highly competitive Indian passenger vehicle market.
Sources indicate that the AMP, known internally as “X4”, is one of the biggest initiatives for Tata Motors after the launch of the Nano. Envisaged on the lines of the modular MQB platform of VW and the common module family (CMF) of Renault-Nissan, the AMP platform is being developed jointly by Tata Motors’ engineering research centre (ERC) in Pune and its European technical centre.
The plan is believed to include four sub-parts – the entry hatchback X4-31, the top-end hatchback X4-51, the compact sub-4m sedan X4-52, and a compact MPV. There could also be four additional products later.
Sources close to the company suggest that Tata Sons’ Chairman Cyrus Mistry is closely involved with the project, which is part of 8-10 products lined up by the company by the end of the current decade. Company spokespersons indicated that the passenger vehicle business unit’s product plan till 2020 includes globally competitive products and platforms, the announcements about which will be made closer to the respective launches.
For the current fiscal, Rs 1,500 crore has been earmarked for investment in the passenger car business, of which a large part will go into new product development. The first product is likely to be launched only after 2015-16, till which time the Vista facelift will be launched (first half 2014) followed by a sub-4m sedan (Manza/Vista CS – second half 2014).
Models currently under development include the Nano Diesel, a small hatchback, and a sub-4m sedan on the “X0” platform, likely to be ready by 2015-16. The company is believed to be planning three different utility vehicles – a compact SUV to take on the S101 from M&M, a MPV to compete with the Maruti-Suzuki Ertiga, and an aspirational utility vehicle (AUV) to go against the M&M Bolero.
