Tata Motors to beef up presence in commercial vehicles with 30 new models news
domain-b.com — December 22, 2007

Tata Motors has said that it will launch 30 new models in the commercial vehicle segment during the current financial year.

The company launched seven medium and heavy trucks in Pune on Thursday, and has four more in the pipeline for financial year 2008.

Of the 30 new vehicles planned for launch, 11 are in the heavy and medium trucks category.

Reportedly, Tata Motors has a 70 percent share in the domestic truck market, which is seeing increased competition from the recent entry of international players. Tata is now introducing new truck variants with value additions, with a view to maintain its market dominance.

New vehicles launched on 20 December include a 49-tonne tractor-trailer, a 49-tonne Novus tractor, and a 31-tonne truck with lift-axle. The 49-tonne tractor on the Novus platform features an AC cabin, radial tyres, and a powerful 295.8 HP engine. The truck is priced at Rs33 lakh.

All newly launched vehicles conform to BS-II emission norms.

According to R Ramakrishnan, head of sales and marketing for Tata Motors' medium and heavy trucks, this scale of launch is rather unprecedented in the industry. He estimated that in the commercial vehicle segment, around 60 per cent of Tata Motors' sales during the next financial year would accrue from these new vehicles

The Tata LPT 3118 TC truck comes with an automatic load sensing lift axle, the first of its kind in the Indian truck industry said Tata Motors. The vehicle is priced at Rs15.5 lakh. The company also launched fully built tippers, which feature a 20 cubic metre body.

According to P M Telang, executive director of Tata Motors' comercial vehicle business unit, given the high GDP growth rate and the booming construction sector, the truck market will most likely resurge and get over the slump it has been facing for some time now. He added that the Indian commercial vehicle market still has a very long way to go before it attains any degree of maturation, which is where Tata motors, with its value-added products in the commercial vehicle segment, has decided to offer products offering comfort and safety at par with passenger cars, to ''reiterate our leadership position.''

Tata Motors, according to Telang, is selling to the Middle East and South Africa ''in a big way'', and sees great opportunity in Russia and all of Eastern Europe. The company is reportedly launching four new commercial vehicles at the Auto Expo in January 2008.