RIYADH, 17 July 2007 — India’s well-known Tata cars are now available on the Saudi market with loan and installment facilities to be provided by the dealer.

Three 2008 brands of Tata vehicles — Tata Indica, Tata Indigo and Tata Marina — were unveiled at the launch ceremony attended by India’s Ambassador M.O.H. Farook, Shaikh Ahmed Al-Dakheel, CEO of Mohamed A. Alhamrani & Co. Intertrade, Tata cars’ dealer, and Divyendu Kumar, head, International Business, Passenger Car Business Unit. Senior officials from the Indian Embassy and Tata executives were also present.

Mohamed A. Alhamrani & Co. Intertrade (Ltd.) (AIT) is the sole distributor of the Tata brand of vehicles in the Kingdom. The current range of Tata vehicles includes a variety of buses, pick-ups and trucks.

AIT also supplies heavy equipment and machinery, such as forklifts, cranes, generators, among others. These products are from internationally recognized brands such as Shinko, Voltas, Denyo, Maeda, Yang, Heila, Altia, Italmec, Dalian and Matec. Speaking on the occasion, Kumar said that with the launch of the three brands of Tata’s line-up includes six vehicles. The other three — Tata Sumo, Oryx and Lynx — had made their debut earlier to complement its full range of buses, pick-ups and trucks.

He said the vehicle conforms to all Saudi specifications in terms of safety, quality and reliability. Priced in the SR30,000-35,000 range, it provides value for money to the customer. The upscale brand, Indigo-Marina station wagon, for instance, with a price tag of SR33,400, is almost 100 percent cheaper than the same brand sold in India. The company will provide finance and installment facilities to the customers. Similarly, other brands will be much cheaper here than in India due to higher taxation back home. “Before launching the vehicle we made sure that spare parts were available. So we have stocked spare parts worth SR1 million which could be supplied to different sub-agents, whose number will be increased from seven to 12 very soon and to 75 within a year.”

Kumar said their accent would always be on after-sale service. They have also set up an alliance network consisting of 35 service points to cater to the different needs of their customers.

Ambassador Farook said the launch of Tata passenger cars was a welcome addition from India which has already made a name for itself in the fields of IT, health care and education. “It is in the fitness of things that Tata cars have come here. They are known for their quality and reliability,” he observed.

Al-Dakheel told Arab News that they will be employing Saudis to work as mechanics in their service center.