Curtains have fallen on the Delhi Auto Expo but we sure aren’t done talking about all the interesting displays. Case in point is the three-cylinder DICOR engine shown at the Tata Motors pavilion. The company has not shared data on its underpinnings which is why we believe its a 1.4-liter (from the Indica eV2) with one deleted cylinder.
The new engine belts out 65PS of power and 140Nm of torque. The Manza hybrid concept vehicle standing next to it hides one under its bonnet.
Tata Nano will have its own two-cylinder sub-1 liter diesel engine and the Vista is unlikely to nix its well-refined 1.3-liter Fiat unit for this three-cylinder. That brings us to the question – For application in which production vehicle was this engine designed for? Surely it can’t hold on until the Manza hybrid is ready to head out to dealerships.
Is it for a future product that replaces the Indica eV2 or sits right between the Nano and the eV2? Or is Tata about to pull off a 30kmpl on the eV2 with the help of this downsized motor?
What do you think?
Image credit – HK-Harry
Way back in 2008, Tata Motors bought the iconic British marquee Jaguar-LandRover for 2.3 billion dollars and then managed to turn things around in less than three years. The Indo-Brit partnership is now ready to take things on the next level. In the company’s 66th annual report, 2010-11, Mr Ratan Tata announced that Tata Motors Ltd and Jaguar Land Rover will jointly develop engines in the future.
The idea of this co development program is to optimize the synergetic strengths between JLR and Tata Motors in India and United Kingdom. As JLR currently gets their engines from Ford, this will be the next step of back-end integration for it and the Indian owner. It will help in cutting costs on manufacturing the vehicles and making them cheaper for price-sensitive markets such as India.
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It’s not the first time we’re hearing about auto manufacturers reaching out to Gujarat for putting up a plant. We’ve heard stories about Hyundai and Ford’ interest in investing in Gujarat last year. Tata Motors produces Nano from Sanand while GM India rolls out vehicles from Halol, both places situated in Gujarat. The new company to join the Modi-led Gujarat bandwagon is Maruti Suzuki. DNA Money reports that a delegation [ Read More ]
The International Multi Group of Companies, a Pakistan-based business conglomerate with highly diverse interests, wants India and Pakistan to reconsider trade agreements for them to import Nano and CNG Buses from Tata Motors.
Pakistan allows a limited number of vehicles to be imported and instead encourages manufacturers to assemble cars to help develop the local economy. The second bottle neck standing in the way is the RBI’ policy of not permitting joint ventures or investments in Pakistani soil.
A low-cost vehicle like Nano will sell in large numbers in similar terrains and IMGC would like to capitalize on this opportunity and the global buzz Nano’ price, features, fire cases and political controversies managed to generate.
Given the extraction of international terrorist Osama Bin Laden by special forces from United States, not very far away from a military installation in Pakistan, happened only days ago, investments in Pakistan will be a call that foreign business houses will not take at the moment.
If Big Bazaar and Westside were not enough, Tata is planning to open exclusive showrooms just for the Nano.
Tata Motors spokesperson told PTI -
We are exploring appointing full fledged dealerships only for the Tata Nano in small towns
The company wants to replicate the success that it garnered with their mini truck – Ace, which has 600 standalone stores alongside normal dealerships in the country. As of now, Tata Nano is available through the company’s 617 regular dealerships, 151 Tata authorized service centers and can be experienced at 210 access points including Big Bazaar and Westside.
To be honest, we think that it is a bit of a wasteful expenditure to have exclusive dealerships just for one car. This will not only eat through the profits but will eventually lead to rise in the prices of the Nano itself. If they really want to increase the reach of the Nano is small towns and villages, they might as well have exclusive tie ups with rural shopping malls such as Aadhaar, Kisan Sewa Kendras and e-chaupals to sell the Nano.
Tata Motors European Technical Center (TMETC) will see plenty of activity over the next few years as the Indian manufacturer plans to recruit more qualified professionals to work on its projects. By 2013, it will employ 340 staff members from the current 240. It also has announced a tie-up with the University of Warwick. Tim Leverton, Tata head of Advanced and Product Engineering – Today’s announcement represents a further demonstration [ Read More ]
Tata Motors could have struck headline gold in 2008 with its one-lakh car, but the ride for the Tata Nano has been terribly bumpy. As reports of fires have not died down, customers are prompted to think twice about the safety aspect before signing on the dotted line. Nevertheless Tata Motors is pushing forward with plans to take the Nano overseas. One such market that has caught its fancy is [ Read More ]
Ratan Tata’s dream child – the Tata Nano hasn’t quite dominated the market as one expected. Heck, it hasn’t even challenged the supremo Maruti Alto in that segment. Sure, the Singur event, the fire controversies, manufacturing & delivery issues and other factors had a lot to do with the slow progress of the Nano in terms of sales. But Tata Motors also felt that the ‘distribution aspect’ of the car [ Read More ]
