Tata Jeeps?

[greenhorn]

Just a hypothetical question in my mind.

Mahindra's current crop of ugly looking vehicles is partially due to jeep complaining about the 7 slat grille used earlier on mahindras. And i think while mahindra is capable of making a vehicle which is truer to the original keep than Jeep itself, the only thing stopping it from doing it is jeep themselves.

And now the irony, their main competitor, tata can now potentially acess jeep, via fiat, which recently acquired it. Tata owns LR too, and is no stranger to making UV's . Tata can now make an authentic jeep clone in india, and get away with it . If not as a SUV, at least as a UV to take on the likes of the MM540 and use the jeep goodwill to sell its own vehicles ?

a rather long stretch of the enemy of an enemy is a friend concept, but will it work ?

I dont think they will actually be branded jeeps, to avoid brand dilution, but if it looks good enough, that should be enough!

[siedo]

I also feel tata should have a vehicle to compete with bolero . Sumo can not do that because of the people mover taxi image.

[shortbread]

One of the biggest drawbacks of the JLR portfolio is the lack of a VFM rugged off roader.The Defender might be among the best in the business but with a starting price in the UK of £21k+ its not really VFM, especially taking into consideration its intended purpose. Also this car has no crash test rating in this day and age.The primary reason for the price is that its still mostly hand built, expensive and slow english labour, uses aluminium panels etc..etc... Also there is still no Land Rover pick up even when the likes of Navaras, L200s are selling like hot cakes.
This is where Tata can step in. It has decent experience with UVs on Ladder/Frame chasis. A rugged, simple (albeit crash test worthy) alternative is required to the defender. It must be made in India to save costs. They aldready have a brilliant engine in the 2.2 Dicor. A possible pick up variant as well. This should be a thorough effort and not half baked products i.e. Grande/Xenon. There is a huge market for this, and for the Unoin Jack loyalists the new Defender can be assemble on the same platform in the UK.

[vinaydas]

tata's acess to fiat is only mutual and probably has some limits
i dont think tata can exploit fiat that easily.They cannot reach mahindra's reliability levels anyways (i think im going to start a tata vs mahindra bash here)

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by shortbread

One of the biggest drawbacks of the JLR portfolio is the lack of a VFM rugged off roader.The Defender might be among the best in the business but with a starting price in the UK of £21k+ its not really VFM, especially taking into consideration its intended purpose. Also this car has no crash test rating in this day and age.The primary reason for the price is that its still mostly hand built, expensive and slow english labour, uses aluminium panels etc..etc... Also there is still no Land Rover pick up even when the likes of Navaras, L200s are selling like hot cakes.
This is where Tata can step in. It has decent experience with UVs on Ladder/Frame chasis. A rugged, simple (albeit crash test worthy) alternative is required to the defender. It must be made in India to save costs. They aldready have a brilliant engine in the 2.2 Dicor. A possible pick up variant as well. This should be a thorough effort and not half baked products i.e. Grande/Xenon. There is a huge market for this, and for the Unoin Jack loyalists the new Defender can be assemble on the same platform in the UK.

Totally agree with you on this one. They can produce the Defender for half the price by making it in India, localizing many of the components, putting in the 4WD Safari powertrain.

[Red Liner]

And definitely avoid the delphi fuel line!

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

Totally agree with you on this one. They can produce the Defender for half the price by making it in India, localizing many of the components, putting in the 4WD Safari powertrain.

A defender with a safari powertrain would require atleast 10year warranty in international markets,imagine a blown engine in midst of some uk army mission.

[phamilyman]

Some of these pie-in-sky threads are actually quite hilarious!

Agree fully with anshuman

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

A defender with a safari powertrain would require atleast 10year warranty in international markets,imagine a blown engine in midst of some uk army mission.

I was referring to a cheaper option only for the India market. For the global markets, Tata will have to find a replacement for the Ford Sourced powertrain unless they want to make payments to Ford. The current version of the Defender comes with the Ford Transit 2.4 TDCi engine and gearbox.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Some of these pie-in-sky threads are actually quite hilarious!

Agree fully with anshuman

Dude, a forum/blog is where people share ideas. I think you are looking for the Encylopedia Britannica.

There is a free trial if you are interested.

https://safe.britannica.com/registra...rCode=SPRING08

[raj_5004]

a TATA Jeep... nah, that doesnt sound good! tatas are better in making cheap & fuel efficient people mover/public transport.

Originally Posted by vinaydas

i dont think tata can exploit fiat that easily.They cannot reach mahindra's reliability levels anyways (i think im going to start a tata vs mahindra bash here)

Originally Posted by Red Liner

And definitely avoid the delphi fuel line!

, i agree to both the above statements.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

A defender with a safari powertrain would require atleast 10year warranty in international markets,imagine a blown engine in midst of some uk army mission.

[shortbread]

On the bright side, the product testing will be done on the UK Army not the Indian consumer.

[Spitfire]

And it will be called Sumojee

[nithinnarayanan]

Or may be called TATAJi

[Spitfire]

Dont they make the 4x4 Xenon already? And the 4x4 Safari and the 4x4 Sumo and the 4x4 trucks.

Are we looking for a 80 inch wheelbase with Jeep slats, 4x4 from TATA or a LR for Indica prices or a Jaguar 4x4 for the price of the Safari.

I dont get the point of this topic?

Like someone said:

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Some of these pie-in-sky threads

[shortbread]

I Think there still is a gaping hole in the market for a replacement for the antiquated MM540. Nothing against the product, which still is perhaps the best bare basic true off roader in the country. But that also highlights the fact that there is no true competition out there, especially not one thats upto modern safety, powertrain standards.
There is also a similar void globally, with the likes of Defender/Jeep getting expensive with each upgrade. LRs know how in this segment is second to none, if Tata can combine this with their frugal engineering and pricing advantage, they have a winner in their hands. Also provided that Tata gets the quality of the product right.