S. Krishnan (left), vice-president, commercial — passenger car business unit, Tata Motors, with regional manager (east) Jalaj Gupta in Calcutta. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, Jan. 21: Tata Motors is expected to sell 15 per cent of its passenger cars in the eastern region over the next two years. The company now sells 10 per cent of its passenger cars in the east, up from 6 per cent two to three years ago.

The company has reported good sales in the petrol and diesel variants of the Indica Xeta in the east. This comes at a time when Tata Motors is setting up its Rs 1-lakh car at Singur in the state, marking its entry in the sub-compact category. The company is already present in the entry-level B segment with the Indica.

“The eastern region has become significant with the entry-level boom, which is driving the national market as well. Our multi-utility vehicle (MUV) models, such as the Sumo, are doing particularly well in Bengal with around 45 per cent market share. We expect the east to continue to be a buoyant market in the coming years,” said S. Krishnan, vice-president (commercial-PCBU) of Tata Motors.

Tata Motors sold 3,323 Sumos in Bengal last year, making it the company’s highest selling model in the state after the Indica, which sold 4,736 units.

The MUV market in the country has been growing at about 10 per cent over the past three years.

However, since the national MUV market is around 1.3 to 1.4 lakh units per annum, the volumes do not often justify launches or frequent facelifts. Tata Motors has a 22 per cent share in the national MUV market with the Safari and Sumo.

Krishnan said the company would launch models and variants of old ones this year. Some like the Indigo XL would have greater luxury and more space that is more than can be provided by a sedan, he said.

“Nationally, we have a 37 per cent market share in the sedan category with the Indigo and Marina and are selling 3,000 to 3,500 units monthly. This would also add to the growth. People are buying the lower as well as the higher range models in this category. Therefore, there is growth at both ends of the spectrum,” Krishnan said.

The Indigo has been growing at 20 per cent over the last three years. The company sold 35,483 units of the Indigo and Marina in 2006.