ITALIAN auto giant Fiat and Indian car maker Tata are in talks about a joint marketing project to sell Ferraris and Maseratis in India, news reports said yesterday.
"We are talking. We have various projects (including) marketing Ferraris and Maseratis" in India, Tata boss Ratan Tata told the Italian daily La Stampa.
Both brands are under Fiat’s control.
Tata Motors is in the luxury car business, having acquired the British brands Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3bn (£1.4bn) from US automaker Ford last year.
At the other end of the scale, Fiat and Tata are considering marketing the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, in Latin America, where Fiat has a strong presence.
The partners are also discussing "sharing new car platforms" and have plans for Iveco, Fiat’s truck and bus subsidiary, Tata told La Stampa, which is owned by the Fiat group.
The Nano, starting at some $2,330 (£1,415) in India, hit the streets this month in India, and Tata has plans to export it to Europe, South America and Southeast Asia.
It will arrive in Europe "at the end of 2011 as planned," said Tata, who is on Fiat’s board of directors.
He added that the Nano had just passed European safety tests.
Fiat and Tata build cars, engines and gearboxes together in India, and Tata Motors is Fiat’s distributor in India.
