Calcutta, Sept. 17: Tata Motors is betting big on its compact SUV Nexon, to be launched later this week, to move up to the No. 3 position within a year.

The top two positions are held by Maruti followed by Hyundai. Mahindra and Mahindra occupies the third slot followed by Honda. Tata Motors comes a distant fifth at present.

"We, along with Maruti and Honda, are the only manufacturers who have gained market share in this financial year till date," said S. N. Burman, vice-president, sales (passenger vehicles unit) of Tata Motors, who was in the city to showcase the vehicle ahead of its launch.

The company's market share now stands at 5 per cent.

In 2014-15, Tata Motors sold 1,34,080 units, lower by three per cent over 2013-14. In 2015-16, sales stood at 1,26,534 units, down 6 per cent, over 2014-15. In 2016-17, the company sold 1,53,151 units, a year-on-year growth of 22 per cent.

The growth momentum continues in 2016-17, too.

The Tata Motors turnaround story was scripted by its new design philosophy IMPACT and product strategy Horizonext, kickstarted by its late managing director Karl Slym.

Under this programme, the company began to build cars that looked more sophisticated and refined, starting with the hatchback Tiago launched in April 2016. The Tiago was followed by the utility vehicle Hexa in January this year, the compact sedan Tigor in March and now the compact SUV Nexon in September.

The impressive product portfolio will be further augmented next year with the launch of its SUV Q501 that will be built on the platform of the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

On the Nexon, Vivek Srivatsa, head of marketing (passenger vehicles) at Tata Motors, said, "The compact SUV is built on our modified X1 platform with JLR inputs in the product development process. We have a common engineering team based in Coventry, UK."

The Nexon is billed to compete with Maruti's Vitara Brezza and the Ford EcoSport.

The company is also due to launch the Tigor AMT in three months.