Tata kicks off LatAm initiative

Fiat Group company, Iveco and Tata Motors will team up for a commercial vehicle project outside India in which the Tatas will build a pick-up vehicle bearing the Fiat nameplate at Fiat Group Automobiles’ plant in Córdoba, Argentina.

This follows a feasibility study that kicked off in July 2006. The first vehicles will roll off the Córdoba assembly lines in 2008. Annual production is slated at around 20,000 units. Total planned investment in the project is around $80million.

Integral activity

With the production of the pick-up model, the Fiat complex in Córdoba will retake the integral activity of all its productive units, to a great extent reinitiated with the manufacture of Fiat engines and gearboxes and the recent agreement to produce gearboxes for PSA Peugeot-Citröen.

The pick-up, based on the new generation Tata pick-up truck, will be sold in South and Central America and select European markets through Fiat Automobiles’ distribution and importer network. The Fiat pick-up, powered by an FPT engine, will be styled and positioned differently from the Tata pick-up. It will be available in the following versions: 4x4, 4x2, double and single cab and powered by a JTD diesel of 2.3 litre capacity, 134 PS Euro 4 engine, manufactured in Fiat Powertrain Technology’s facility in Sete Lagoas, Brazil.

Wider agreement

The agreement that has been signed will encompass a number of potential developments in engineering, manufacturing, sourcing and distribution of products, aggregates and components. Iveco and Tata Motors will now set up a joint Steering Committee to determine the feasibility of cooperation, both in the short and over the long term. When found feasible, the two companies will enter into definitive agreements in the course of the coming months.

In a statement Paolo Monferino, CEO of Iveco, said “The possible strategic cooperative agreement with Tata Motors represents a new step in our strategy leveraging on excellent partnerships of Fiat Group across the automotive value chain.’

Iveco designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, off-road trucks, city and intercity buses and coaches as well as special vehicles for applications such as fire fighting, off-road missions, defence and civil protection. Besides Europe, the company operates in China, Russia, Turkey, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa.