Tata Motors came out with the widest range of vehicles at the show, displaying two new models – the Magna 1623 and Starbus 1212, along with Cityride 1515, Winger 9-seater, Compact Patient Transport Ambulance on Tata Magic, Tata Hexa SUV as well as the Ultra Electric Bus. The primary focus at the company pavilion was on the comfort and safety levels the products offered for drivers and passengers alike while ensuring best-in-class drivability.
Speaking to MOTORINDIA, Mr. Rohit Srivastava, Vice President and Product Line Head – Passenger Commercial Vehicle, Tata Motors, said: “Rapidly growing cities have led to an upsurge in the demand for efficient public transportation in all parts of the country, urban as well as rural. The Buses manufactured by Tata Motors have always adhered to this increasing demand while ensuring best in class products to suit the travel requirements of passengers and drivers alike. Our priority is to provide efficient, clean and affordable value propositions to our customers without compromising on safety and the comfort levels of the passengers. The vehicles we have displayed here is a testimony of our in-depth understanding of the Indian market.”
Manufactured with top-notch functional designs and new-age innovations, these buses come with enhanced fuel economy and a longer service life. Mr. Srivastava added: “Our new offering Magna 1623 is a 230-horsepower new platform on which seating’s can be done as per customer’s specification. Earlier version was only available in the 180 horsepower and there is a specific segment that requires 230 horsepower; hence we have come up with this variant. On the other hand, the new Starbus 1212 is an intermediate vehicle for staff transportation with 52-54 seating capacity with the width of 2550 mm which can take care of 3 by 2 configuration also. It will be ideal for tour operators clocking 600-800 km on long haul with an engine running AC.”
Tata Motors made good use of the platform to communicate the level of customization and variants they can offer. When probed whether the timing of the new variants was to cash in on the pre-buying sentiments before BS-VI rolls in, Mr. Srivastava clarified: “People may be looking to buy vehicles before the BS-VI but as a company we do not bring new platforms or variants keeping mind the sales ramp up. We follow a five-year plan and a thorough product development cycle. We are adding a lot of value enhances which will help the customer break even faster and have a lower payback time. The customer will have a better business case despite the bus cost going up.”
The company is also fast commissioning the orders of electric buses they were awarded. “Out of the 215 bus orders awarded to us, we have already supplied combined 175 – 9 m electric buses to Jammu, Srinagar, Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore, Assam and Guwahati. Kolkata has given us an additional order of 40 vehicles; these are 12 m buses and are also under production now.”
Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Head – Sales & Marketing, Passenger Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors, added: “Being the market leader, over the years Tata Motors has pioneered technological innovations and safety features in the bus segment. Prawaas is an excellent platform to exhibit our broad range of products to our customers and various stakeholders. At this event, we want to showcase that sustainable transportation solutions will be one of the key fundamentals in our strategy going forward and Tata Motors will continue to progress in the mass transportation space while keeping the right balance between sustainable growth, customer satisfaction and profitability.”
Tata Motors, with its extensive range of mass transportation solutions, enjoys a market leadership position in buses in India with market share in excess of 38%.