Tata Motors endured an impressed year with a range of new launches while outgrowing the industry by a big margin in sales
Tata Motors has had an eventful 2018 to say the least! After stunning the spectators at the 2018 Auto Expo in February with the H5X and 45X concepts, the brand did outgrow the industry in monthly volume sales a few times and proved that the aggressive Turnaround strategy is certainly paying dividends.
The Tiago has constantly been the best-seller and in the 11-month sales data, it is clear that the hatchback outsold some established entry-level Maruti Suzuki models such as Wagon R. Tata played the cards perfectly and expanded the Tiago’s range during festive season with the NRG cross variant and the performance-based JTP model.
The latter is one of the major highlights from Tata this year, as the brand showcased that performance can come at an affordable price. Within the space of 51 days (between September and October), Tata launched five models including Tiago NRG, facelifted Tigor, Tiago JTP, Tigor JTP and Nexon Kraz edition.
The homegrown automaker is facing increased heat from JLR’s woes in the global markets, but in India it is sailing on a slew of upcoming launches. Chief among which the much-anticipated Harrier five-seater premium SUV will be introduced on January 23 and it will spawn a seven-seater variant by early 2020.
Following the Harrier, Tata is preparing to unleash the 45X concept based premium hatchback to take on Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Hyundai Elite i20 during the second half of 2019. The forthcoming launches are part of the brand’s Turnaround 2.0 strategy, as Tata intends to be available in the segments it has never competed before.
With sustainability being the key, Tata plans to increase its presence in the volume-based market by 90 percent with the help of new products by 2020. The Alpha platform debuting on the X451 will likely give rise to a micro SUV and a C-segment premium sedan.
The Nexon compact SUV became the first India-made SUV to receive five stars in Global NCAP crash testing and it was another significant achievement this year. Tata increased production to meet the demands at its Sanand, Ranjangaon and Pune facilities, and it grew by a highly impressive 23.5 percent year-to-date.