Yes, the new India-based owners of Land Rover (Tata Motors) have been joining other auto manufacturers around the world and jumping on to the "green vehicle" express. I can't think of a single vehicle manufacturer that has not announced intentions to produce hybrid, electric or other fuel-efficient models using similar technology.
The proof will be in the pudding as they say; recent economic downturns have certainly crimped more than a few plans to bring new technology to the assembly line. GM, Chrysler and most others are cutting back on previously announced plans in this regard… the Chevy Volt (with its high profile) will survive cut-backs, but plug-in hybrids from Saturn and others are being delayed by at least a year.
India (and China) are now starting to feel the impact of the economic crisis and this will certainly slow their efforts. The British government (like others) has announced major financial incentives for UK-based auto manufacturers to develop "green technology" and this source of funding may allow some of these initiatives to survive (hopefully).
It will be interesting to see what transpires in the next 12-18 months.
P.S. -- check out Tata Motor rival Reva's recent plan to ramp up production on their all-electric G-Wiz (available in the UK) to 30,000 units per year at:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/11 ... ng-pr.html
…while Tata themselves recently announced two all-electric vehicles - the Tata Indica will initially target the Scandinavian market (Norway):
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... tono=45929
:shades:
The proof will be in the pudding as they say; recent economic downturns have certainly crimped more than a few plans to bring new technology to the assembly line. GM, Chrysler and most others are cutting back on previously announced plans in this regard… the Chevy Volt (with its high profile) will survive cut-backs, but plug-in hybrids from Saturn and others are being delayed by at least a year.
India (and China) are now starting to feel the impact of the economic crisis and this will certainly slow their efforts. The British government (like others) has announced major financial incentives for UK-based auto manufacturers to develop "green technology" and this source of funding may allow some of these initiatives to survive (hopefully).
It will be interesting to see what transpires in the next 12-18 months.
P.S. -- check out Tata Motor rival Reva's recent plan to ramp up production on their all-electric G-Wiz (available in the UK) to 30,000 units per year at:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/11 ... ng-pr.html
…while Tata themselves recently announced two all-electric vehicles - the Tata Indica will initially target the Scandinavian market (Norway):
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... tono=45929
:shades:
