Tata Motors is planning to launch new variants of the Indica and the Indigo over the next one year. 

“We are planning to launch Indica Sports and also a new variant of Indigo, which will be named Indigo Estate, during the next one year. Over a period of time, we will also be launching variants of other existing car models. This is part of our strategy to raise our stake in the passenger car segment from the current 16 per cent and we are optimistic about boosting our sales with the new variants,” said Rajiv Dube, vice-president of Tata Motors. 

Dube said the decision to launch a new variant of Indigo was based on the success of the car, which was launched a year back. In a year, over 25,000 Indigos have been sold. 

“We hope to continue with the surge in Indigo sales and the Indigo Estate will help us to increase our market share in the entry mid-size segment. While Indica’s new variant, Indica Sports will be targeted at people looking for small cars with a trendy and young look, Indigo Estate will add more new features in comparison to existing variants of the car, which now enjoys a market share of 27 percent in the entry mid-size segment,” said a source with Tata Motors. 

Though the prices of Indica Sports and Indigo Estate have not been revealed, sources said that Indica Sports will be priced little higher than its existing variant, DLX, and will be available in a range of colours. 

It also has been learnt that Tata Motors may opt for launching variants of Safari and Sumo in two years. “At this moment, I can only say that we have decided to launch various variants of existing range of our cars which will be also ready to cater to our expanding export market,” Dube said. 

Tata Motors has entered into an agreement with M G Rover in United Kingdom to export one lakh cars and under this arrangement, Indica are sold in UK as City Rover cars. 

The company is also planning to take the new variant of Indica overseas as Tata Motors is targeting 25 per cent of its total revenues from the export. 

The company’s exports for July, this year, were 1,430 units against 735 vehicles sold in July, last year. Cumulative exports for April-July, 2003 were 4,980 units against 2,754 sold in the same period last year, representing an increase of 80.8 per cent.