Tata Visited Great Wall on Possible China Tie-Up, CEO Says
By Ryan Chilcote and Karthikeyan Sundaram - Mar 1, 2011
Tata Motors Ltd., the Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover, has met with companies including Hebei-based Great Wall Motor Co. as part of its search for a partner to build luxury vehicles in China.
“It’s important to have a local partner,” Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive officer of the Mumbai-based automaker, said in an interview at the Geneva Motor Show today. “You need local knowledge, and also the government requires involvement of a local manufacturer.”
Luxury vehicle makers including Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Daimler AG are expanding in China, where economic growth and rising incomes spur demand for marquee brands. Sales of Jaguar cars and Land Rover sport-utility vehicles surged to a record in the nation last year, Tata Motors said in January.
Tata Motors gained 4.7 percent to 1,134.95 rupees at 2:54 p.m. in Mumbai trading. The shares have dropped 13 percent this year, compared with a 10 percent drop on the benchmark Sensex Index.
Sales rose 12 percent in February to 77,543 units, Tata Motors, India’s biggest truckmaker, said in a separate statement.
Jaguar Land Rover, which Tata Motors acquired from Ford Motor Co. for $2.5 billion in 2008, posted a profit after tax of 275 million pounds ($448 million) for the quarter ended in December.
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