Tata Motors is India’s largest automobile company, with consolidated net profit of
9,274 crore (US$2.07 billion) in 2010–11. It is the leader in commercial vehicles and among the top three in passenger vehicles in India. Tata Motors has products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. The company is the world's fourth largest truck manufacturer, the world's second largest bus manufacturer, and employs 50,000 workers. Since first rolled out in 1954, Tata Motors has produced and sold over 4 million vehicles in India. Established in 1945, when the company began manufacturing locomotives, the company manufactured its first commercial vehicle in 1954 in a collaboration with Daimler-Benz AG, which ended in 1969. Despite the success of its commercial vehicles, Tata realized his company had to diversify and he began to look at other products. Based on consumer demand, he decided that building a small car would be the most practical new venture. So in 1998 it launched Tata Indica, India's first fully indigenous passenger car. Designed to be inexpensive and simple to build and maintain, the Indica became a hit in the Indian market. It was also exported to Europe, especially the UK and Italy.
Tata Motors is a dual-listed company traded on both the Bombay Stock Exchange, as well as on the New York Stock Exchange. Tata Motors in 2005, was ranked among the top 10 corporations in India with an annual revenue exceeding INR 320 billion. In 2010, Tata Motors surpassed Reliance to win the coveted title of 'India's most valuable brand' in an annual survey conducted by Brand Finance and The Economic Times.
Tata Motors has auto manufacturing and assembly plants in Jamshedpur, Pantnagar, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Sanand, Dharwad and Pune in India, as well as in Argentina, South Africa and Thailand.
Acquisitions
Tata Motors has done series of Acquisitions in the last decade
- In 2004 Tata Motors acquired Daewoo's truck manufacturing unit, now known as Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle, in South Korea.
- In 2005, Tata Motors acquired 21% of Aragonese Hispano Carrocera giving it controlling rights of the company.
- In 2007, Formed a joint venture with Marcopolo of Brazil and introduced low-floor buses in the Indian Market.
- In 2008, Tata Motors acquired British Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which includes the Daimler and Lanchester brand names.
- In 2010, Tata Motors acquired 80% stake in Italy-based design and engineering company Trilix for a consideration of €1.85 million. The acquisition is in line with the company’s objective to enhance its styling/design capabilities to global standards.
Subsidiary brands
Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle
Tata Motors aimed to increase its presence worldwide. In 2004, it acquired the Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company of South Korea. The reasons behind the acquisition were:
- Company's global plans to reduce domestic exposure. The domestic commercial vehicle market is highly cyclical in nature and prone to fluctuations in the domestic economy. Tata Motors has a high domestic exposure of ~94% in the MHCV segment and ~84% in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment. Since the domestic commercial vehicle sales of the company are at the mercy of the structural economic factors, it is increasingly looking at the international markets. The company plans to diversify into various markets across the world in both MHCV as well as LCV segments.
- To expand the product portfolio Tata Motors recently introduced the 25MT GVW Tata Novus from Daewoo’s (South Korea) (TDCV) platform. Tata plans to leverage on the strong presence of TDCV in the heavy-tonnage range and introduce products in India at an appropriate time. This was mainly to cater to the international market and also to cater to the domestic market where a major improvement in the Road infrastructure was done through the National Highway Development Project.
Hispano Carrocera
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| Hispano |
In 2005, sensing an opportunity in the fully built bus segment, Tata Motors acquired a 21% stake in Hispano Carrocera SA, the leading European bus and coach cabin maker. In 2009, the company picked up the remaining 79% stake in Hispano Carrocera SA for an undisclosed sum, making it a fully owned subsidiary.
Jaguar Cars and Land Rover
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| Jaguar |
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| Land Rover |
Joint ventures
Tata Motors has formed a 51:49 joint venture in bus body building with Marcopolo of Brazil. This joint venture is to manufacture and assemble fully built buses and coaches targeted at developing mass rapid transportation systems. The joint venture will absorb technology and expertise in chassis and aggregates from Tata Motors, and Marcopolo will provide know-how in processes and systems for bodybuilding and bus body design. Tata and Marcopolo have launched a low-floor city bus which is widely used by Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Pune and Bengaluru transport corporations. Its manufacturing facility is based in Dharwad.
Tata Motors also formed a joint venture with Fiat and gained access to Fiat’s diesel engine technology. Tata Motors sells Fiat cars in India through a 50/50 joint venture Fiat Automobiles India Limited, and is looking to extend its relationship with Fiat and Iveco to other segments. Tata has also formed several JV's with many small companies in various countries around the world.
