It seems as if Tata Motors has decided to set things right as far as their performance in the Indian car market is concerned. Days after announcing its plans for revamping the Nano hatchback, the Indian auto maker is pinning a lot of hopes to a new platform, which would be the base for company's upcoming vehicles. In terms of revenues, Tata Motors held the title of being the country's largest auto maker till sometime back before being surpassed by Mahindra & Mahindra. Now, the company will be working on the development of the Advanced Modular Product (AMP) platform. If reports are to be believed then this platform will be the base of numerous cars that will be launched by Tata Motors in the future, which includes a hatchback, Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV), sedan and a compact vehicle.
According to sources, this platform is tentatively called the X4 within the firm's circles. The X4, reports suggest, is expected to be a game changer by the Indian auto maker. Tata Motors is likely to, in the future, manufacture a high number of vehicles based on the X4 platform. Industry experts believe that this platform is going to be the biggest development by Tata Motors since the launch of Nano. Some sources say that the X4 could take cues from developments from other car manufacturers, such as Volkswagen's Modularer Querbaukasten or Modular Transverse Matrix (English translation) and Renault-Nissan alliance designed CMF platform. It is being said that the new X4 platform happens to be a joint initiative of two of the firm's centres, including Engineering Research Centre (Pune) and European Technical Centre.
As of now, no official confirmation has arrived from the company regarding the kind of products that will be manufactured on this platform. However, strong rumours have surfaced, which say that there will be four different cars, namely X4-31 (entry level hatchback), X4-52 (compact sub-4 metre sedan), X4-51 (top-end hatchback) and an MPV. There is also a possibility of four more cars being introduced at a later stage by Tata Motors, which will be based on the X4 platform.
Sources close to the process have suggested that this project is in development on priority basis, under the supervision of top officials. Such is the value of this undertaking that Cyrus Mistry, the Chairman of Tata Motors, is personally looking into the matter by providing inputs. Rumours suggest that the company plans to launch around 8-10 new products by the end of this decade. Experts believe that the X4 platform could have a big impact on the Indian car market and influence buying trends, thereby strengthening the position of Tata Motors.
Meanwhile, the auto maker is also gearing up for the launch of facelifted Vista by the first the half of 2014, which will be then followed by a sedan in the second half of the same year, sources said. The company is believed to have allocated a budget of Rs. 1500 crore for investing in the passenger car market, which seems to be quite aggressive for the ongoing fiscal
