#tata

Remember the Tata Pixel concept at Geneva? If not, this link should help refresh your memory…or, you can wait until your next European vacation, where you’ll be seeing the tiny little Pixel on the streets.

If the maker of the world’s cheapest car does move ahead with plans to sell it here in the U.S., the sticker price won’t be the $2,000 figure that the car retails for in its home market of India.

Tata has been trying to dip its toe into the wild, wacky world of the European automobile market ever since they released their $2,500 Nano supermini. They made an attempt at appeasing discerning European customers with the Nano Europa, an “upscale” Nano with alloy wheels, power steering, and an extra cylinder (bringing the total to three).

Jaguar and Land Rover are in talks with Chinese carmaker Great Wall over a potential manufacturing partnership in China, according to two executives from Great Wall.

Five consecutive quarters of being “in the black” has paid off for  Jaguar Land Rover. The luxury automaker is set to make over a billion pounds in profit ($1.6 billion) after strong sales around the world, especially in Asia.

Earlier this week both the United Kingdom and China signed business deals reported to be worth around 2.6 billion pounds ($4 billion). A part of those deals included arrangements to sell more Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles in China.

Despite being hailed as the vehicle that would motorize a billion-strong economic powerhouse, the Tata Nano has turned out to be a spectacular flop, with November sales totalling just 509 units, from a peak of 9,000 units in July. For comparison, Mercedes-Benz cars, far beyond the reach of a majority of India’s population, regularly sells over 500 cars a month.

Rumors have been circulating that Jaguar is going to bring a new concept to the Paris Auto Show, dubbed the C-X75 – and that’s all the information we have.

Land Rover‘s new Range Rover Evoque two-door SUV is on a publicity blitz ahead of its deubt at the Paris Auto Show, and details are begging to emerge.

Rather than the usual 8-cylinder powerplant, the Evoque will use a 2.0L Ecoboost 4-cylinder, dubbed the Si4, which makes 240 horsepower.  Land Rover will likely have to resort to some creative marketing to sell customers on the idea of a 4-cylinder, even if it’s likely more than adequate for urban driving.

A 2.2L turbodiesel has also been announced, but power figures haven’t been announced yet beyond the 187 horsepower number. The torque figures will be far more important, and expect this engine to be sold in most of the Evoque’s 160 world markets, but not the United States.

Gallery: Range Rover Evoque

[Source: Land Rover]

Tata’s Nano city car is being investigated for a series of fires in India related to the car. A Tate spokesman said that the company was “conducting a probe” into the matter.

Nearly 13 years ago today, Britain handed over sovereignty of Hong Kong to the Chinese government, ending a 99-year lease on the territory, and signaling the end of a British presence in China.

With Tata just having announced a return to profitability based on increased demand of its Jaguar Land Rover models, the company is now laying out an ambitious plan for the future. Included in that plan is the production of the Jaguar F-Type – a more driver focused model that will likely compete more readily with the Porsche 911.

India’s Tata Motors is back in the black after rising demand for the Land Rover and Jaguar cars, as well demand in India for Tata products. The Tata group posted an overall profit of $543 million, compared to last year’s loss of $535 million. Tata was able to beat analyst expectations of a $321 million profit, thanks in part to Jaguar and Land Rover raking in their own profit of $46 million.

What’s smaller than Micra? Nissan is about to answer that question with news that the Japanese automaker will build a vehicle to slot in underneath its new Micra sub-compact (above) and rival Indian automaker Tata’s Nano.

Despite competition from Tata, known for building the world’s cheapest car, Suzuki has no plans to compete head-to-head with the Indian automaker. Currently Suzuki has a stranglehold on emerging markets like India, but Tata is looking to take a chunk of that with the Nano, which undercuts the already inexpensive Suzuki models.