Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, May 06, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, May 06, 2005 |
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Corporate
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Announcements Marketing - New Products & Services Tata unveils mini truck Our Bureau
Mr Ravi Kant, Executive Director, Tata Motors (left), with the new mini truck in Bangalore on Thursday. — Sreenivasa Murthy
Bangalore , May 5 TATA Motors said on Thursday it would launch the country's first indigenously developed mini-truck, Tata Ace. Tata Motors Executive Director for Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Mr Ravi Kant, told a news conference a day before the official launch of the vehicle, that the company invested around Rs 180 crore to develop Tata Ace, which will introduce a new category in the commercial vehicle segment. "There is a growing market for last mile distribution vehicle. Ace will fulfil this need," Mr Ravi Kant said. He said a study conducted before working on the project indicated that customers want a low maintenance cost vehicle which has higher driver safety and better driving comfort. The customers were even willing to trade fuel efficiency for power. Hence, after studying markets in China and other countries, the project went on stream in 2002. It underwent several changes in its look and other parameters before it was finally put together. The Tata Ace is part of the company's New Products' Introduction Programme. The 0.75-tonne Tata Ace is fitted with a diesel engine and has all-steel cabin and has several car-like features including, two-toned seats, an instrument cluster, utility trays, magazine pockets, twin blade, twin speed wipers and combination switches. Mr Ravi Kant said the company might consider launching higher payload vehicles for the export market. He said Tata Motors' commercial vehicles are performing extremely well in South Africa. "South Africa is emerging as the largest market for Tata Motors outside India," he said. He said the company is planning to launch Daewoo trucks in India during the current fiscal.
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