Tata plans for global expansion with new modular platform

Tata Motors plans on going global with its future range of vehicles and has planned its portfolio for the next six years, according to company MD Karl Slym. 

Although the company has more success with its commercial vehicles, Tata wants to build a family of world-class passenger cars, which will all be based on a new, flexible, Volkswagen Group-style architecture dubbed the Advanced Modular Platform (AMP).

Replacing today’s ageing road car lineup (which includes the Indica hatch, the model that became the City Rover in 2003) is a priority for the maker, which has been suffering in the recent sharp downturn in the Indian market. 

According to a report in the Australian media, the new platform will “leapfrog” what the Volkswagen Group has already achieved. Dr Tim Leverton, Tata Motors’ head of research and development, told the Sydney Morning Herald that VW had gone through “six or seven generations” of products to get where it was today, but that Tata would “go directly to a very interesting solution”. 

The AMP, he said, would not only be flexible in length, but it would also be properly flexible in width. This extra level of flexibility should enable the AMP platform to underpin all sizes of cars from superminis to crossovers. 

Slym told the Indian press that the planning to send Tata international began last year and that all of the new cars in the development pipeline are designed for sale globally.

Tata is likely to focus on fuel efficiency, connectivity and innovation, he said.