What does the Tata Motors-Microsoft Collaboration Mean for India?

18 February, 2017

Tech and auto are converging round the world

It's a new world order in the automotive industry, globally. Three disruptive technology trends have taken car user experiences by storm.

• Electrification of vehicles is a reality today and as Bloomberg predicts, electric cars will contribute to around 35% of global sales by 2045.
• It's been a while that autonomous and driverless cars burst into the scene. Though they are at multiple stages of development and testing, autonomous vehicles have given car users a peek into a world of endless possibilities, from self-parking abilities to emergency control.
• The connected car is redefining driving experiences backed by in-car merging of information systems, digital enablement, communications technology, and safety devices.

The convergence of the tech and auto worlds is well under way. It is creating an exciting world of new vehicular experiences in the more developed parts of the world.
What about India?

The Indian market and a new breed of car buyers

Currently, the Indian market has the largest demographic of car buyers. And the time is just right for futuristic solutions that redefine consumer mobility experiences.

The Indian car user is a different and evolved persona today. More than 65% are under the age bracket of 35

years and about 50% are under 25. They are brand conscious but not necessarily brand loyal. They are digital natives, mobile addicts, love gadgets, and expect connectivity everywhere.

However, for Indian car makers, living up to the newfound customer needs of tech-enabled, digital and connected cars, is about addressing a complex ecosystem. There's competition not just from global peers but also from high-tech companies and start-ups. Then there's the question of making connected cars available to the Indian consumer at affordable prices and ensuring that the cars can zip, zap and zoom on Indian roads.

Beginning of a new era

We at Tata Motors spotted the tremendous opportunity to meet advanced mobility needs of Indian customers. We also realised that to fuel our customers' aspirations of going high-tech with their cars, we needed to embrace digital technology-driven innovation and disruption. And to do all of that, we needed a strong technology partner.

We found our perfect match in Microsoft.

The collaboration between Tata Motors and Microsoft marks the beginning of a new era in the Indian auto industry. It's a strategic agreement to redefine connected and personalized driving experiences for Indian customers. Tata Motors will leverage Microsoft's connected vehicle technologies that bring together artificial intelligence (AI), advanced machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities on the global hyper-scale Azure cloud, to traverse the digital and physical worlds and create a highly personalised, smart and safer driving experience across the digital life of a vehicle owner.

How's the Indian consumer going to benefit from this collaboration? Hear it from:

Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD at Tata Motors:

Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India

This collaboration also gives Tata Motors the opportunity to participate in smart city developments and redefine urban driving experiences and make India future ready.

The first vehicle showcasing the vision for these enhanced driving experiences will be unveiled at the 87th Geneva International Motor Show on 7th March 2017.

Follow us on Tata Motors and TAMO handles to stay updated on exciting developments in the advanced mobility space.