Tata Motors has launched the Tata Divo, a luxurious long-distance inter-city travel bus, and the Tata Starbus Ultra, a modern and practical offering for commuting within the city.
Commenting on the launches, Mr. Ravi Pisharody, President – Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, said: “Tata Motors has always been at the forefront in revolutionizing passenger transportation in the commercial vehicle segment. With the introduction of the Tata Divo and the Tata Starbus Ultra the company will more comprehensively address the burgeoning need of public transportation. These two vehicles are sure to migrate the world of passenger transportation to a completely new level of class and technology coupled with comfort and convenience”.
The Tata Divo, the brand new luxury AC coach, is meant for inter-city passenger transportation and tourist operations. Its body design comes from Hispano Carrocera of Spain, a fully-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, providing a truly international standard ride to the long-distance traveller.
The sleek body and the luxurious interiors of the vehicle are a treat to the eye, and it offers customised interior features such as different seating layouts in semi-sleeper and seater configurations, wide seats with upto 135 degree recline with head flaps and armrests, generous saloon space with high roof, hat-racks with personalised controls for AC and reading lights, and large luggage space, making it the ultimate luxurious coach. In addition, an entertainment system with DVD player and two LCD screens, on board refrigerator, mobile charging points, destination board, and the public address system enhance the travel experience.
The 6-speed overdrive gearbox for higher fuel efficiency, the larger 430 mm diameter clutch for enhanced life, exceptional braking performance with a hydrodynamic retarder and a superior independent front axle for better manoeuvrability together ensure superior performance.
Driver comfort has been taken to the next level as the bus has a pneumatically suspended seat for more comfort, electronic accelerator pedal and precision gear shifting for minimizing driver fatigue, and a new aesthetic dashboard and instrument cluster with on-board diagnostics.
The BS III-compliant Tata Divo’s drive-train is engineered by a 285 hp powerful Cummins engine, a breakthrough in terms of technology and reliability.
The Tata Divo not only stands for world class design, assured reliability and superior performance, but also spells high on safety. The hydrodynamic retarder ensures better safety, and the exceptional aerodynamic drag coefficient increases vehicle stability.
The Tata Divo (BS III version) price range starts from Rs. 66 lakhs, ex-showroom New Delhi.
The Tata Starbus Ultra opens up a whole new world of comfort and luxury for office-goers, hotel guests, tourists and school children. Meant primarily for intra-city transport, the luxury variant can also be used for inter-city travel.
The Tata Starbus Ultra has an outstanding aerodynamic body design and aggregates which conform to the Bus Body Code. This is the first bus in its category with the front door ahead of the front axle, providing more seats for the same length of bus and subsequently better returns for the operator. The advanced parabolic suspension, wider aisle width and super comfortable seating ensure that commuters have smooth and peaceful ride.
The Tata Starbus Ultra is available in Luxury, Standard, School and Deluxe variants, in different seating configurations (22 – 46 seater), on different wheelbases, thereby providing the customer with a whole range to select from.
The vehicle is designed using the reliable Tata 497 engine along with a viscous fan (used for the first time in this class of buses), resulting in higher fuel efficiency and lowest NVH levels in its category. The 6-speed gearbox with overdrive and cable shift mechanism ensures higher mileage, more speed selection options and a higher speed, while also guaranteeing 30 per cent more life. The high strength chassis and stronger rear axle enhance the life of the vehicle, while the wider tubeless radial tyres give a longer running life. The service interval has also been doubled for more on road availability and to significantly reduce maintenance costs for the operators.
The wider track axle and lowest in class turning circle diameter help in vehicle stability and manoeuvrability for the driver. Tiltable and telescopic steering with a high capacity power steering pump, dashboard mounted gear lever with car-like gear shifting leaves reduces driver fatigue.
The Tata Starbus Ultra (BS III version) price range starts from Rs.15 lakhs, ex-showroom New Delhi.