Rs 1-lakh car by 2008: Ratan Tata

Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata's dream project, the 'people's' car, is all set to become a reality by 2008.

"The car should be out some time in 2008. It is in the prototype stage and prototypes are running. Its cost will be somewhere between a motorcycle and a car," Tata said in an interview to The Week magazine.

The vehicle was at the prototype stage now and the company would soon start producing it before a formal launch in 2008, Tata said when asked at what stage is the Rs 1-lakh car.

He said that the new vehicle may also be exported to other developing countries depending on its success in India.

While country's largest carmaker Maruti has already said that developing such a car would be difficult, Tata is going ahead with the project with the aim of becoming numero uno in India's automobile sector.

Along with the development of the people's car, Tata said the group's automobile arm -- Tata Motors -- was also focusing on expanding its current offering in the car market launching new models and introducing variants of existing vehicles.

"The next major releases will be variants of Indica and Indigo. There will be variants of existing cars but there will not be a new car from the ground up," Tata Sons Chairman said in the interview.

He, however, added that the company would soon be launching a small one-tonne commercial vehicle, which will have a passenger version similar to MUL's Omni van.

Asked whether Tata Motors will also enter the premium and super premium category, Tata said, "We are not looking at upper segment because other companies are bringing in products from their stable abroad."

"We are looking at strengthening our existing segments, which constitute about 60 per cent of the market," he added.

Tatas, which have already taken over Korean auto company Daewoo's commercial vehicle division, also plan to launch commercial vehicles under the new platform in India next year.

Asked if Tata would use its brand name to sell Daewoo vehicles in overseas markets, he said though the new company was named Tata Daewoo, the Indian brand name may not be used in geographies where it is not recognised.