The Joint Venture between Fiat and Tata Motors

There is a great debate on the role strategic alliances can have as market entry or penetration strategies in developing countries. The topic becomes even more interesting when confronted with the quasi-oligopolistic dynamics of the global automotive market, heavily affected by the contrasting trends towards globalisation and consolidation and by growing excess capacity. The present book confronts the literature on strategic alliances in developing markets with a specific case and market, namely the JV between Fiat and Tata and the global and Indian automotive markets. At the same time this book traces the strategic rationale for the JV from its inception to the latest developments. Findings strongly support the argument for JVs with a local partner as optimal ways to overcome the liability of foreignness in the Indian subcontinent. Possible improvements to the JV analyzed are the exploitation of new synergies, the development of new product lines and the conversion of India into a production and R&D hub, while increasing market penetration in India and deepening the commitment to local suppliers.