Now this really comes across as one of the biggest news in 2017. According to ET, Tata Motors and Volkswagen Group are in the early stages of finalising a merger. Now Tata already announced about its plans to develop the AMP or the Advanced Modular Platform recently and you can read about it here. But developing a brand new platform is easier said than done since it requires an extensive amount of R&D and not to mention a massive amount of investment. And that is where VW comes in. While it’s still unclear what kind of collaboration it’s going to be, we can expect an announcement at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.
Now VW is already underway developing the MQB A0 platform which will underpin the next generation Polo and the Skoda Fabia amongst other models however even then it’s proved to be an expensive bet for the Indian market. If this collaboration falls into place, VW might lend their expertise in developing the AMP platform. In return, VW might get access to it and might use it to develop low cost cars for developing markets. We have already covered this news and you can read about it here.
Tata has already considered partnerships before with the PSA Group and Chery from China and VW is one of the options Tata Motors is considering. Stringent norms means the industry is already witnessing tie-ups between rivals which makes it easier for future investments. The recent Toyota-Suzuki merger and ongoing talks about the PSA Group buying out Opel and Vauxhall being the recent ones.
