Tata Motors has recently announced that the brand has transformed its Passenger Vehicle segment which also includes the Electric Vehicle business into a subsidiary which separates it from the dominating Commercial Vehicle business. According to sources, the brand has taken this decision to make a new administration and payroll structure for future employment, independent of the commercial vehicle business.
Last year the brand was reported to be planning a joint venture with a Chinese brand which is likely to launch their cars in India under the Tata Motors branding and unconfirmed reports suggest that the earlier reports could be true and Chery a state-run car manufacturer from China is likely to be the ‘strategic investor and technology partner’ for Tata Motors.
As of now, the brand has not made any official announcements but the two together could be planning to bring the Chery Tiggo 5x in the Indian market. The Tiggo 5x is likely to be positioned in the highly competitive mid-size SUV segment and is expected to lock horns with the crowd favourite Hyundai Creta.
Tata is likely to use the Chassis, Suspension and the Engine from the Tiggo 5x but the bodywork is likely to be engineered by Tata itself. The Tata SUV with the Tiggo 5x underpinnings is likely to be called the Blackbird. The Blackbird was in the past rumoured to be built using the Land-Rover OMEGA architecture but the plan is likely to have been scrapped due to the heavy modifications required which are not likely to be viable in term of its end cost.
Sources also suggest that the brand had contemplated American, Korean and other Chinese car companies such as Geely Holdings and Changan Automobiles, in the past, for the joint venture but could have the decision in favour of Chery Automobiles. It is also important to note that, Cherry already has a 50:50 partnership with Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover in China and the brand manufactures JLR vehicles at their Changshu production facility.