Hyderabad: After the European markets, Tata Engineering (Telco) now plans to export its cars to China. The Chinese car market has been growing at about 45% annually, with ’02 sales touching the 1-m mark.

"We have initiated a survey on China. It is the biggest potential car market today. The country’s immense growth in car sales has taken place without the retail consumer base being touched. Cars are being sold to government institutions and taxi companies. Individual buying is not there on a big scale," Rajiv Dube, vice-president, commercial (PCBU), Telco, said here at the inauguration of the company’s 117th passenger car dealership in India.

"We are bullish about China. The Tata group has a close association with the country through its other companies. TCS is doing a lot of work in software. A couple of our group companies are sourcing raw materials from China. Over a period of time we will also have our footprints in the country," he added.

Moreover, he said, the purchasing power and demography of consumers are appropriate for the Tata cars. Currently, it exports its passenger cars to the UK, France and Italy among others.

Talking about the Rs 1-lakh car, Mr Dube said it is a tough call. Taking the element of cost into consideration, this essentially means that the car has to be manufactured at Rs 45,000. It will not come easy but yet it is the company’s dream. "We are in the fourth year in the passenger car market. We are taking one step at a time," Mr Dube said.

The company has increased its total number of dealerships to 130 from 101 this fiscal and expects to end the year by crossing its sales target of 100,000 cars.

Tata Indigo, according to the company, increased its market share from 27% in January to 29% in February. Indica enjoys an estimated market share of 24.2% in the compact B segment, while Safari sales are growing at 23% for the fiscal, the company said.