Tata Ace Refresh EX Mini Pick Up Truck showcased at the 2012 Indian Auto Expo!

Tata Ace Refresh EX Mini Pick Up Truck facelift

With the Tata Ace, Tata Motors spawned an all new segment altogether, of that of the mini pick up truck space. Ever since its launch, the Ace has gone on to conquer milestone after milestone, being India’s best selling mini pick up truck. The Tata Ace has now gotten a comprehensive makeover in the form of the Ace Refresh EX and this model was showcased at the Tata Pavilion during the ongoing 2012 Indian Auto Expo.

The chief differences in the Tata Ace Refresh EX are cosmetic in nature. The front end gets a new headlamp and integrated turn indicator design. The front grille also gets a makeover and the wheels now get smart looking wheel caps. The interiors of the Ace also gets a big makeover, and this time the makeover is quite functional in nature. Redesigned fabric seats and an ergonomic repositioning of the steering to greatly improve driver comfort are the most important feature of the new interiors.

Tata Ace Refresh EX Mini Pick Up Truck facelift

The dashboard too sees a redesign. A mobile charging point, a stereo system and a digital clock also make it to the refreshed Ace. Mechanically though, the Tata Ace Refresh EX  remains the same, with the indirect injection twin cylinder, water cooled diesel engine producing 16 Bhp of peak power and 38 Nm of peak torque.

We’ve spotted test mules of the Tata Ace with a direct injection common rail diesel engine and this model can be expected to be launched soon to take on the Mahindra Maxximo, which incidentally features a CRDI diesel engine. The 700cc DICOR engine, essentially a chopped twin cylinder unit of the 1405cc Indica Diesel block, found on the Ace has much more implications as this very engine could be used in the upcoming Tata Nano Diesel.

Tata Ace Refresh EX Mini Pick Up Truck facelift

Source: ICB

Tata Motors to add almost 2 lakh fresh capacity for Ace family by Jan

Strong demand for the Ace light commercial vehicle (LCV) and its variants has encouraged Tata Motors to add almost two lakh additional annual capacity for the models by January-February.

The Pantnagar plant in Himachal Pradesh, dedicated to the Ace family, will see output rising to 4.5 lakh units a year. This is after production was increased just six months ago to 3.5 lakh units from 2.5 lakh. Another plant at Dharwad, Karnataka, will start production around the same time with an initial output of 90,000 units annually.

Strong growth

“The Ace and Magic segment is growing 30-40 per cent. We're implementing some changes in Pantnagar and as per an agreement with the Government, we can get certain benefits till a capacity of five lakh units,” said Mr Ravi Pisharody, President of Commercial Vehicles Business Unit at Tata Motors.

He added, “The Dharwad plant will come on stream in January-February. The initial capacity will be for Ace Zip and Magic Iris.”

The Ace LCV family comprises the 0.7 tonne Ace, Ace Zip (0.6 tonne), Super Ace (one tonne) and passenger versions based on the same platforms – Magic, Venture and Magic Iris. The company's Pantnagar plant gets certain lower excise tax benefits, apart from other sops, according to a previous Central Government incentive.

Higher demand

Tata Motors has been selling 15,000 units of the Ace monthly, apart from 2,500 Zip and 1,000 Super Ace. Though combined sales are about 18,500 units, another company official said that the demand is for at least 25,000 units a month.

“If the retail FDI proposal gets through, there is going to be a huge need for such LCVs in rural areas, apart from rising demand for last mile connectivity in cities. We want to be ready for that,” said the official.

Tata Motors expects to guard its market against recent competition in the around one ton LCV segment from Mahindra & Mahindra, Force Motors, Piaggio and Ashok Leyland.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

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's Nano, Ace to roll out of Brazil, Indonesia, East Europe

 

World's cheapest car Tata Motors' Nano and the company's popular light commercial vehicle (LCV) Ace are set to roll out from new factories around the world, as early as next year.

In order to increase global penetration, Tata Motors is planning to set up assembly operations in Indonesia and Brazil, apart from Eastern Europe, Mr Ratan Tata, Tata Motors' Chairman, told shareholders at the automaker's annual general meeting (AGM) here on Friday.

“We are looking at assembly facility for passenger vehicles in South-East Asia (Indonesia) and some parts of Eastern Europe. We're looking at how to maximise penetration for the Nano and the Ace,” he said “We're also looking at Latin America (Brazil). We plan to grow both in India and in other countries.”

Mr Carl-Peter Forster, Tata Motors' Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer, told Business Line on the sidelines of the AGM that the company's global assembly plans, starting with Indonesia, could begin “likely by next year.”

To counter the erratic domestic monthly sales performance of the Nano (between 3,000-7,000 units on average and peak of 10,012 units in April, 2011), the company has started exports, starting with Sri Lanka and Nepal. It is also starting solo Nano distribution centres in smaller towns. 

Total domestic sales of the Nano has crossed one lakh units since the 2009 launch, but the company's 2.5 lakh unit per annum capacity plant at Sanand is currently lying under-utilised.

Asked by shareholders about the future of its manufacturing and distribution joint venture with Fiat in India, Mr Tata said both Fiat and Tata Motors are “re-looking at the contractual obligations, in order to make it more realistic for both parties.”

“Yes, it is showing losses. The venture was setup with the assumption that we will manufacture together and market their products … the volumes did not work because of the downturn and did not take off the way we thought,” he said. 

Mr Tata said that the company is taking several steps to increase its market share. These include more advertising, innovative marketing strategies and increasing its dealer network especially in smaller towns and rural areas. 

On global new product plans, he said that both Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover are working on hybrid and electric cars. Tata Motors will be launching an electric car in UK and Norway soon, a small city car based on Pixel concept which will have to both electric and petrol power trains. 

Source: Tata's Nano, Ace to roll out of Brazil, Indonesia, East Europe by next year