Unlike in the past, this 2007 has been special for Indian auto majors especially in terms of their global image. We came across many acquisition and tie-ups in automotive industry. Particularly, Indian auto majors are in the major buying spree as their profits keep soaring. As many as four commercial vehicle alliances were announced during 2007. In trucks and buses Tatas tied up with Iveco, then Nissan and Ashok Leyland announced four JVs followed by Volvo Eicher and lastly Daimler finally finds a partner in india thorugh Hero.
In the passenger car segment Tata – Fiat extended their alliance to many other areas such as joint production and Bajaj hinted its intent to make a global car in alliance with Nissan-Renault. Interestingly for the Ford’s Jaguar and Land Rover sales one of the biggest deal in 2007 in world automotive scenario two Indian manufacturers – Tata Motors and Mahindra are in the race.Formal announcement is expected in a few weeks time.
Bajaj which was rumored to be in the race for ducati / triumph later satisfied with 18% KTM stake. Bajaj bought 14.5 per cent stake in the Austrian firm for €566 million (about Rs 300-350 crore) from the open market and later bought 3.5% more. Bajaj and KTM also announced they would jointly build bikes in the coming years.