Fiat-Tata JV to supply 100,000 diesel engines to Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki, the country’s biggest car maker, will buy 100,000 diesel engines a year for the next three years from the joint venture company of Fiat and Tata Motors.

Fiat and Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, Maruti’s parent, have reached an agreement for the supply of Fiat’s 1.3-litre, multi-jet, Bharat-IV diesel engine, to be produced under licence by Fiat India Automobiles (FIAL). FIAL is a 50:50 joint venture between Italy’s Fiat Group Automobile SpA and Tata Motors, India’s biggest vehicle manufacturer.

The JV company, based in Pune, owns the Rs 4,500-crore engine and transmission plant located at Ranjangaon, near Pune. The supplies will commence from this month till 2015.



“The engine will be installed on Suzuki-branded vehicles produced in India by Maruti Suzuki India for the local market. The production of the engines will start in the fourth week of January at FIAL’s Ranjangaon plant,” stated a release by Fiat India.

MSIL’s plan to buy the engines from an alien company is driven by excessive demand for its diesel models such as the Swift, DZire, SX4 and Ritz. The limited supply of engines forced Maruti to restrict the diesel offering to only four models. New models such as the multi-purpose Ertiga will have a diesel engine option. All of Maruti’s current line of diesel models use the same 1.3-litre multi-jet engine. These supply volumes from Fiat will be in addition to the same engine already licensed by Fiat and manufactured by Suzuki Powertrain India.

Source: Business Standard

Tata Ace DICOR Diesel Scooped; Same Engine to be used in Tata Nano Diesel!

Tata Ace DICOR Diesel

Nearly a year ago, we learnt that the Tata Nano Diesel could deliver a phenomenal 40 Kmpl. Naysayers had no option but to believe the unbelievable when a Bosch official involved in development of the fuel injection system for the Nano Diesel came along and made the following statement,

We have worked with Tata Motors for Nano’s petrol version and we are working with it for the diesel version too. The car has a two-cylinder, 700cc engine which develops healthy power without compromising on fuel economy. Although official test figures have not been revealed, we expect it to run 40 km on one litre of diesel.

Today, we have with us yet another scoop, this time of the Tata Ace DICOR diesel, but a scoop that could have more than a bearing on the upcoming Nano Diesel. ICB, has swooped another biggie hereby snapping up on-test Tata Ace DICOR diesel mini pick up trucks even as the drivers of these test vehicle stopped for a chai(tea) break.

While the DICOR (tata speak for common rail direct injection) turbo diesel engine for the Tata Ace was always in the pipeline, we have reliably learnt that a very similar engine will be what will power the upcoming Tata Nano diesel, the variant that could quite literally put the bang back in the Nano’s sales, doing what the V2 did to the Indica many summers ago. And this is why this scoop has more to it than just a new engine job on India’s largest selling mini pick up truck.

Tata Ace DICOR Diesel Mini Pick up Truck

From details ICB has managed to gather on the DICOR engine, the twin cylinder engine has been chopped off the 475 engine range, which in other words is the 1,405cc Indica engine. This has been done to keep development costs to the bare minimum while also ensuring that the spare parts remain common to that of the Indica’s engine for easy serviceability. The common rail direct injection system has been developed by Bosch. So, this engine on the Nano Diesel is something India will be keenly looking forward to.

Coming back to the Tata Ace DICOR, the mini pick up truck will use a 700cc twin cylinder engine whose power and torque output will be much lesser than the Nano diesel. The same goes for NVH levels too, which are expected to be higher than on the Nano due to the Ace being an out and out commercial vehicle. However, fuel economy could get a huge boost and with that, the Tata Ace DICOR might knock the wind off a certain Mahindra Maxximo mini pick up’s sales, which already is in the doldrums.

Source: ICB

Tata Motors planning new Fuel Efficient and Powerful Engines for LCV

Tata ACE Zip

Tata Motors, India’s top commercial vehicle maker, is looking at replacing its older light commercial vehicle (LCV) engines with the new fuel efficient and powerful ones in order to retain dominance in the segment where competition is getting intense with new players joining in and older ones lining up newer models.

The company is currently working on a range of engines for its LCV and intermediate commercial vehicle (ICV) categories.

According to sources, Tata Motors has begun trials of the new engines and may showcase them during the Auto Expo in Delhi next month.The company currently sources its medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) engines from Cummins India.

However, the LCV engines are being made by Tata Motors at its Pune plant. According to sources, the new LCV engines will have some input from Cummins India, but will be manufactured by Tata Motors solely.

“For LCVs, we are using our own engines. We are developing new engines to replace the current ones,” said Ravi Pisharody, president - commercial vehicles business unit at Tata Motors.

According to the company, the new 3-litre diesel engines will be launched within the next one year. Though the investment for upgradation of these engines is not known, sources said it is not very high.

Analysts said with competition getting intense, it was important for Tata Motors to retain its share in the LCV market. “Tata Motors is losing its share in the passenger vehicle segment. It is necessary for the company to take necessary steps to remain ahead in the LCV and M&HCV segments,” said an analyst with a domestic brokerage.Tata Motors currently has a market share of around 73% in LCVs. Mahindra & Mahindra has also emerged as a strong player in this segment, while new players like Ashok Leyland-Nissan and General Motors are looking to tap the potential.



Ashok Leyland recently launched its LCV Dost with its Japanese partner Nissan. The two companies plan to go aggressive with new launches. Also, General Motors and China-based SAIC will bring in their range of LCVs soon.

Pisharody said, “The new engines are more fuel efficient, technologically advanced and more powerful. We thought this is the right time to upgrade the engines”. LCV continues to be the best-performing segment for the company. Its year-to-date volumes grew 27% this year.

“There are a lot of opportunities in the light and small commercial vehicles. We are talking about slowdown, but in the last six months our growth in LCVs is almost similar to last year,” said Pisharody.

Source: DNA India