Hyderabad: After the successful foray into European markets through Rover, it is time now for the automobile major Tata Engineering (formerly Telco) to look at China. The company bets big on the Chinese market for its passenger cars.

As a precursor to the foray into the Chinese market, Tata Engineering has discreetly made a survey, including the potential and the prospects to market its passenger cars in a big way in that country. "We are bullish on the Chinese market," said Tata Engineering commercial passenger car business unit vice-president Rajiv Dube.

"One would see Tata Engineering’s footprint in the Chinese market in the near future," Mr Dube said while addressing the press conference here on Wednesday to inaugurate the new dealership.

"Though the foray into the Chinese market will not be the same as in other countries, however, the scale of penetration is very high and the company believes there is a great potential to market the cars," he said, adding that the Chinese market is also fast opening up.

"We are in the process of educating the customers explaining about Tata Group, the strength and trust apart from Tata Engineering in particular and its success story on the passenger car segment in the last four years," he said.

If one were to compare the past with present situation, the Chinese market has undergone a lot of changes and has been continuously flooded with multinational companies. The changing global scenario has forced the Chinese government to open up its doors for the multinationals and others. As a result, individuals have been allowed to purchase of their choice. "Backed up with the government liberalisation and necessary financial support system, the Chinese market is set to explode in the near future," he added.

Tata Engineering had also received a overwhelming response for its Indica and Magna at the Shanghai Motor Show two years ago. "We were also surprised to see that Chinese were bemused about the cars, which manufactured by an Indian company with quality and at cheaper price," he claimed.

If one were to believe that the China has been placed above other countries with the FDI flow of over $45 billion annually, one would also naturally understand that the purchasing power has been gone up manifold in that country, he said.

Apart from European markets and the proposal to foray into the Chinese market, Tata Engineering is also looking at Asia Pacific and West Asia regions for possible exports in the near future, Mr Dube said.

The company has proposed to launch its Indigo Estate first in the European markets by the end of this year and would consider introducing in India at later point of time. With the good response to its latest ‘C’ segment Indigo during the last two months of its launch, the company hopes to sell 1200 units a month, he added.

Meanwhile, the company is expected to end up the financial year with 1,00,000 cars. Till February, the company has sold totally 90,000 cars and expected to finish the year with 1,00,000 mark. Indigo continues to dominate the market in the ‘C’ segment with 27 per cent market share in March as compared to 27 per cent market in February and continue to maintain the lead. The company is also expected to enhance the dealership from 117 to 130 before the March-end, he added.