Tata Motors Exploring Possibility of a Tie-Up with China’s Chery Automobile

Tata Motors, according to a report by ET, is holding talks with Chinese car maker, Chery Automobile, to explore possible tie-ups, which may include sharing of vehicle platforms, getting access to the market in China for Tata Motors and even helping Chery to enter India, people with knowledge of the matter said.

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According to the report, when Tata was working on its 2020 strategy about 12-18 months back, it had considered buying some of Chery’s platforms. Chinese newspaper Nanfang Daily has reported that Chery was in talks to sell the platforms of its QQ, A1 and M1 micro sedans and the A3 compact car to Tata Motors to raise capital and ease its debt burden.

“It is a very broad-ranging talk right now, with nothing specifically defined as yet,” said a person close to Tata Motors.

“Teams have been visiting, but there is no direction yet as synergistic benefits are minimal,” another person with knowledge of development at Tata Motors said. A Tata Motors spokeswoman said “as a part of our continued explorations in key markets, we continue to have discussions for potential opportunities for collaboration with many players including those in China.”

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Tata Motors already has a tie-up with Chery for its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) unit. The JLR unit got the approval from Chinese authorities to set up a joint venture with Chery last year. Tata is trying to buy a platform for their entry level small car to rival the leading Indian car maker, Maruti Suzuki. Buying a ready platform is cheaper than building a new one and it also saves the time required to build it from scratch.

Stay tuned to Motoroids for more updates on this development.

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