Tatas’ Rs 1 lakh car ready

Even as Singur continues to be a hot bed of controversies and political battle, Tata’s Rs 1-lakh dream car is getting ready for roll out. The car is in fact ready and is undergoing tooling and testing.

According to reports quoting Ratan Tata, the vehicle is expected to hit the roads between October and December, 2008. The car is ready for production and the project is on schedule.

The company’s proposed Singur plant is currently under the spotlight as local farmers, led by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, are opposing land acquisition for the car factory. West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has, however, reiterated that the Tata car project is irreversible.

Meanwhile, Italian auto giant Fiat, which has a joint venture with Tata Motors to manufacture cars and transmissions, engines, is expected to to sell the new small car in Latin America and other foreign markets. Fiat would also give technical and design related suggestions to Tata Motors for the project, said a report.

Tata has said that Fiat has shown interest in selling the small car in other markets where it has strong brand value.

However, it is being rumoured that the Tatas will see the pricing suffer because of inflation. The Tatas are trying to launch the car with a price tag of Rs 1 lakh, but if the inflationary and input cost pressure continues, the car may cost a little higher. Variants of the car might increase its marketability.