The JV between Tata and Fiat is progressing smoothly. Fiat cars have been sold through Tata dealerships for the past 1 year. Fiat will also supply Tata with its state of the art Diesel and Gasoline engines for its all new Indica V3. Also one of the points to be noted in the Tata Fiat JV is that Fiat will provide financial assistance in Tata's acquisition of Jaguar,Land Rover and in return Fiat would possibly be given the license to sell the Nano in Europe.
Rumors and even some confirmed reports are going around tying together Chrysler, Fiat and Tata. Starting in the U.S., Chrysler may partner Tata to sell the traditional American brand JEEP in the Indian market. It would make sense for Tata to buy Jeep if this partnership went through but Tata already had Land Rover to manage! Chrysler could really do with selling a brand and getting some cash. Jeep, America’s brand for sale!
Chrysler also has extra manufacturing capacity from the SUV sales slowdown, and Fiat may lease factory space to bring production to the U.S. This may also tie Chrysler’s dealer network into the possible return of Fiat brands including Alfa Romeo.
In a way, this could set up Lee Iacocca’s “Global Motors” dream of over 30 years ago. Iacocca thought about bringing together an American, European, and Japanese car company to make a worldwide automotive conglomerate. The idea allowed for utilizing the U.S.’s manufacturing strength, European style, and Japanese knowledge of good economy cars. Although Tata is not Japanese, the Indian firm is looking to show the world it knows how to make an inexpensive car. So, if all this goes through, someone better build a chart to keep track of which car is coming from where.
