Tata Motors is pitching for luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover but that doesn’t come in the way for Land Rover to compete against Tata to grab the contract from Indian Army to produce LSVs for them.
Tata Motors has developed an all new model based on Humvee military vehicle to bag this contract. On the other hand, Land Rover is positioning its Defender to get Indian Army under its umbrella.
Land Rover’s Direct Sales Manager John C Wright said, “We are different from all the Indian products as we are not limited to the acquisition cost (of the vehicle), but are looking at the total life cycle of the vehicles. Our products are superior like the Defender range has been approved for air drop too. Land Rover vehicles are value prepositions and come with wide choices for chassis, suspension, fuels, transmissions making them foremost vehicles in the world.”
Land Rover’s Defender has been modeled according to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) parameters. While that is the case, Land Rover will still have to sweat it out with not only Tata but also Mahindra & Mahindra, Vehicle Factory Jabalpur – Stallion vehicles, Force Motors and Ashok Leyland. The final sales is due for early 2009.