Moneycontrol Bureau
Tata Motors’ struggling domestic passenger car business is set to receive a boost next year with the launch of Pelican, a small car that is slated to go head-to-head with city hatchback rivals Maruti Alto and Hyundai Eon.
A report in the Business Standard today said Pelican would be among a slew of cars Tata plans to launch over the course of next few years and would sport a 1000cc petrol engine and a 800cc diesel engine.
The move would be the first serious step Tata would take to look for new ways to work around the failure of the Nano, whose fortunes have dwindled over the years despite the magnitude of efforts the company has put to push it.
The newspaper reported that the Pelican would be built on an upgraded Nano platform and if Tata’s recent launches Zest (compact sedan) and Bolt (hatch) are anything to go by, due focus would be laid on everything from design, features, styling and quality – something that the frugal Nano was perceived to suffer from.
Even as passenger sales have grown or broadly remained at the same level over the past three years, sales for Tata cars have fallen from about 35,000 a month at the start of 2012 to about 12,000 at the end of 2014.
This was led by a decline in the sales of each of its vehicles: Nano, Indica, Indigo and Sumo.
To refresh its ageing line-up, Tata has said it would launch two new models every year till 2020. According to the BS report, upcoming cars apart from the Pelican include compact SUV Nexon, Indica replacement Kite and an upgrade to the Safari Storme SUV.
The new strategy – to focus on new products, instead of revamping older models – takes cues from that of market leader Maruti, which has six different models only in the hatchback segment (with three recently phased out).
And given the start cars such as Zest have received, selling about 3,000 units -- and with critics pointing to a marked improvement in terms of refinement compared with previous generation Tata cars – it appears that after having lost its way, the company appears to be finding its feet back.
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