When Tata Motors completed the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover in 2008 for roughly $2.3 billion, the move drew smiles across the automotive world, as few imagined that an Indian industrial group not steeped in European markets could elevate these brands to the summit.
IVECO, the new lever for Tata Motors in Europe
Eighteen years later, the same Tata Motors has just taken another step forward. On Friday, October 30, 2026, it finalized the purchase of 89.42% of IVECO’s equity—the Italian maker of trucks, buses, and commercial vehicles—along with its European network of dealerships and its European plants, notably the historic Turin facility. The agreement had been announced in late July 2025 and valued IVECO at €3.8 billion, with annual revenue of €22 billion and more than 540,000 vehicles sold each year. A prerequisite had to be resolved first: the sale of IVECO’s defense division—strategic for the Italian state—to Leonardo for €1.7 billion, which IVECO ultimately completed in March 2026. Since 1975, the year of its creation on the basis of Fiat Veicoli Industriali, IVECO had remained under the total control of Exor, the holding company of the powerful Agnelli family, with Giovanni Agnelli having helped found Fiat in 1899. This marks a turning page for both the Agnelli family and the Italian automotive industry.
No layoffs or plant closures
What Tata will do with IVECO next remains to be seen. In India, Tata Motors is by far the market leader in the heavy-truck sector, earning a solid reputation and proven know-how. In Europe, it had never truly broken through, since the market is mature and technologically demanding, dominated by Mercedes-Benz, Volvo-Renault, Ford, and Traton (MAN, Scania), where Tata was largely unknown. But with IVECO, everything changes. The Italian manufacturer offers a doorway, technologies—especially in electric powertrains and cleaner propulsion—and, above all, a local brand image that resonates with Europeans across the continent. Tata, for its part, brings scale, cost-advantages, and its strength in Asia. The group pledged for two years not to cut jobs or close plants, and to keep the headquarters in Turin, offering reassurance to unions and public authorities. The deal isn’t fully closed yet, as IVECO still needs to exit the Milan Stock Exchange to become the wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors.
