Comments
India’s leading commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors has introduced Intra, a compact truck, with an objective to grow its sales and marketshare in the pick-up segment dominated by Mahindra and Mahindra and Ashok Leyland.
Tata Intra will be positioned between its largest selling mini-truck Ace and the pick-up Yodha (formerly called Xenon). It will come in two variants – Intra V10 and Intra V20 – priced at ₹5.35 lakh and ₹5.85 lakh, respectively.
Pick-up truck segment
While Tata has been a strong player in the sub-one-tonne mini-trucks, it couldn’t grow its position in the pick-up segment (above one tonne payload category) with the higher payload variants of Tata Ace. Mahindra Bolero and Ashok Leyland Dost have been dominating the pick-up market.
“Tata Intra will be a game changer for us in the SCV segment (which comprises mini-trucks and pick-ups) as it offers several industry-first features, setting high standards in the market,” said Guenter Butschek, CEO and Managing Director, Tata Motors.
With Intra’s car-like features, the company hopes to garner more volumes and market share. Intra’s payload capacity is 1.1 tonne and its GVW (gross vehicle weight) is 2.3 tonne.
“There is a growing set of applications in the SCV segment and Intra will meet those specific requirements. We will work towards replicating the Tata Ace success story here,” said Girish Wagh, President – Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors.
While Intra V20 will be powered by a 1396 cc direct injection (DI) diesel engine with 52 KW (70 HP), the V10 will have a 796 cc DI diesel engine delivering 30 KW (40 HP), promising quick acceleration, faster trips and low turnaround time.
It has a standard power steering fitment with a low turning circle radius of 4.75 m, which will ensure easy manoeuvrability.
Tata Ace volumes grew 60 per cent in 2018-19 and the company is bullish on growth prospects in the small truck segment. “We grew our market share in the SCV segment in 2018-19 and our share was 40 per cent in this segment,” said Wagh.
Volumes in the SCV segment stood at 5.15 lakh units in 2018-19 and Tata Motors’ volumes were about 2.06 lakh units.
The company will also look at launching alternative fuel options such as CNG in Intra.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.