Indian Autos blog

It is an annual affair at Tata Motors to bring out a facelift or a special edition model of their mass market products. The Vista has been presented twice with different body paint and alloy wheels and last year went through a more comprehensive facelift program.

The more recent Manza witnessed changes to its variants, the top-end Elan with the Tyrian Wine paint job became Tata’s super sedan.

A couple of sources with knowledge in product developments of Tata Motors told IndianAutosBlog.com that dealers will receive the Tata Safari Storme in July by when the market launch is also expected to finish. The bigger development is Tata is not going to retire the currently selling model and will run it alongside the Storme.

Sources inside Tata Motors tell us that the new Safari will be launched in a phased manner across India as the production lines have to churn out both the new and old Safaris with some capacity constraints. Tata manages to shift about 1,000-1,500 units of the Safari every month.

In all fairness, it had to happen someday! Yes, one of the most famous talk show hosts in television history and a true blue petrol head – Jay Leno – finally has a Tata Nano in his garage.

But a Tata Nano entering the Jay Leno epic garage is no ordinary occasion. Thus, the Tata Nano was welcomed in a Bollywood setting with Jay Leno dressed in a Sherwani.

Tata Motors have confirmed that their project of producing a compressed air-powered vehicle is back on track and in fact the project has completed its first phase.

The news of Tata Motors working on a car with compressed air engine with the help of MDI (Motor Development International) technology first surfaced in early 2007. MDI is a renowned French company specialized in designing compressed air car prototypes marketed under the title “the Air car”. The car was named OneCat. But since then most of the information about the project or its status died out.

Tata Motors has postponed production plans for the Vista EV in the UK, TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk reports. The 25 samples that were produced for on-road trials posed cost of production and reliability issues with the £15,000 (INR 13 Lac) LiPo batteries that went in it.

Tata has given its employees another year to do more testing and contain the situation. The company recently setup a small factory in Coventry where it assembles electric vehicles.

So many people buy SUVs in India and then keep them on the city streets without a speck of mud on their tyres. While the apprehension is understandable because there are no formal off roading training courses in India, one has to enjoy the off roading experience that the SUVs were designed to provide.

Mahindra&Mahindra, India’s premier SUV manufacturer understands this need and has been conducting The Mahindra Great Escape for a while now.

Tata has not yet started selling the Nano in European countries but that may not stop private parties from registering a car for themselves. The Nano’s clarity in its ambition, to serve as a safe, economical and comfortable means of personal transport, is unmatched by any city car in the world. The Nano’s sales performance has gradually picked up and it may take Tata a while to sort out a European spec version.

Our reader Sandeep Singh from Frankfurt who is fluent in Dutch, helped us understand the article that has appeared on AutomobielManagement.nl.

click through to read on

Limited information is available on DC Design’s latest interior customization project that uses the Tata Aria as a donor car. DC Design, known for some of jaw-dropping interiors and controversy-stirring exterior, has released photographs of a customized Tata Aria on its Facebook page.

Two rows of seats have been converted into a single row constituted by heavily-bolstered and comfy leather-trimmed captain chairs. The chairs are fully reclinable and provide extensions to rest one’s legs. It is needless to say that seat support is plentiful for every muscle and joint in the body!