How it started
History
Tata Motors was founded in 1945, as a locomotive manufacturer. Tata Motors entered the passenger vehicle market in 1991 with the launch of the Tata Sierra, a multi utility vehicle. This was followed by the launch of the Tata Estate in 1992 (a stationwagon based on the existing TataMobile light commercial vehicle) and the Tata Sumo in 1994, India's first sports utility vehicle.
Tata launched the Indica in 1998, the first fully indigenous Indian passenger car. Although initially criticised by auto-analysts, its fuel economy, engine and an aggressive marketing strategy made it one of the best selling cars in the history of the Indian automobile industry. A newer version of the car, named Indica V2, was introduced later. Tata Motors also exported the car to South Africa.
In 1999, Tata Motors entered talks to sell its struggling passenger car business, and Ford emerged as a potential buyer. However, after meeting Ford chairperson Bill Ford in Detroit, Ratan Tata decided not to sell the business.
Later in 2008, during the Great Recession, Ford verged on bankruptcy. Tata offered to buy their Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for $2.3 billion. Bill Ford reportedly thanked Tata by saying "You are doing us a big favour by buying JLR."
In January 2008, Tata Motors launched Tata Nano, the least expensive production car in the world at about ₹120,000 (US$3,000). The city car was unveiled during the Auto Expo 2008 exhibition in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
From Wikipedia’s article on Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3