Tata electric car to hit UK roads as Mandelson lends £10m

Tata Motors-badged cars will hit the UK's roads for the first time
Tim Webb
guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 September 2009 16.19 BST
The government has finally dipped into its eight-month-old £2.3bn aid package for the car industry, lending Tata Motors £10m to assemble an electric car in the UK.
Tata Motors, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, will invest £25m into the project, which could create hundreds of jobs.
It will also see Tata Motors-badged cars on the UK's roads for the first time.
The Indian company will announce shortly where the car will be assembled. Tata claimed the "Indica Vista EV [electric vehicle]" will be the world's first mass-produced family-sized electric car and will be available in Europe by the end of the year.
It developed the four seater at its R&D centre in Warwick. Tata Motors is partnered with Norwegian company Miljø Grenland/Innovasjon which will make the electric batteries. Tata will use its Indica Vista's chassis, which it will ship to the UK for assembly with the battery.
Initially assembly will take place in Norway until the UK site is ready, where the number of cars being produced will ramp up depending on sales.
Tata came close to scrapping its plans to build the car in the UK because of frustration over how long it had to wait to find out if the government would provide financial support. The company had to wait over eight months for a decision.
A spokewoman for Lord Mandelson's business department said that it was difficult to find banks to underwrite the loan, even though many are in state control.
The Government unveiled the £2.3bn automotive assistance package in January in order to kickstart the ailing car industry and help companies develop low carbon technologies.