Whodunnit: Did Tata's Nano Kill Jag's Hybrid Supercar?

The performance of a Bugatti Veyron, the range of a Chevy Volt, and the CO2 emissions of a Toyota Prius. That was the promise of Jaguar’s cancelled C-X75 hybrid supercar … and the damned thing delivered. So, why was it cancelled? From a pure “market watch” point of view, this is the golden age of million-dollar exotics, with other hybrid supercars like the LaFerrari and the McLaren P1 selling out months before the first example hit the road. It’s a good question, and – according to Jalopnik writer Máté Petrány – the answer may lie in the Tata Nano.

Jaguar’s parent company, Tata, reported that “fourth quarter net income plummeted 37 percent to $703 million … meanwhile, the Jaguar Land Rover luxury unit reported net profit of $570 million. Meaning that, even though the British are strong enough to finance a project like the C-X75, Tata’s sales back in India binned this magnificent engineering achievement by Jaguar and Williams.

Could the tiny, $2500 Tata Nano be behind the death of a future classic Jaguar? Will the Nano’s fate decide whether we get diesel or hybrid Range Rovers? Could Tata’s ability to convince people to buy a slow car instead of a (comparatively) fast bike mean no bad-a** electric Defender? Yikk. Let’s hope the changes Tata made to its Nano for 2014 help the car take off. Though thankfully, there is still a chance that the awesome, 550 horsepower 1.6 liter turbo engine could still be used in other Jaguars down the road.

For a more in-depth look at the numbers involved, head on over to Jalopnik’s original article.

Source | Photos: Jalopnik.

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Tags: C-X75, cancelled, Jaguar, Jaguar C-X75, jaguar c-x75 cancelled, Jaguar cancelled, jaguar cx75, jaguar news, jaguar stock, Nano, sales, Tata, tata news, tata stock

About the Author

Jo Borrás I've been involved in motorsports and tuning since 1997, and write for a number of blogs in the Important Media network. You can find me on Twitter, Skype (jo.borras) or Google+.