Tata Motors: 60 years of trucks

Indian automotive giant Tata Motors has celebrated 60 years of truck manufacturing at its Jamshedpur production facility

Tata Motors may have only entered the Australian market in 2013 but it's been a powerhouse in its native India for decades, and in fact it celebrated 60 years of truck production at its Jamshedpur factory, in the Jharkhand province in eastern India, last month.

Tata Motors was actually established in 1945 as a manufacturer of steam locomotives, but it turned its attention to trucks in 1954. These days the company is virtually unrecognisable compared to that fledgling truck-building concern, and today it produces a range of 200 medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicle models. Those models include prime movers and rigid trucks and agitators and tippers, along with specialist vehicles to meet both civilian and defence needs.

The sheer scale of Tata Motors' operations has also changed: today a truck is completed every five minutes, while 300 engines are produced each day. In 2013 Tata Motors produced its two millionth commercial vehicle and in total the company has built over eight million vehicles. Tata Motors says it is the world's fourth-largest bus manufacturer and the fifth-largest truck manufacturer.

Tata Motors also says its Jamshedpur facility has an advanced engineering research centre that is focused on the future, exploring areas such as hybrid and alternative fuels, intelligent electronic control systems and more. Tata Motors already produces hybrid models, along with vehicles that meet strict Euro 6 emissions compliance.

According to Ravindra Pisharody, Executive Director Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors may be large, but it still has a dynamic approach that allows it to respond rapidly to market needs.

"We at Tata Motors are proud to have achieved yet another trucking milestone of 60 years of manufacturing excellence at our plant here in Jamshedpur," he said.

"From the very beginning, Tata Motors Jamshedpur has led the transformation in the Indian commercial vehicles space, setting benchmarks through the introduction of class-leading trucks with the most relevant global technologies, incorporating flexibility to develop and manage our current and future portfolio, with speed and in line with varied market requirements.

"With world-class quality manufacturing and engineering programs here in Jamshedpur, it is in our continuous endeavour to remain the most preferred trucking brand."

A part of the massive $100 billion Tata Group, Tata Motors acquired the commercial-vehicle arm of Daewoo in 2004 and has owned Jaguar Land Rover since 2008.

Over 20 Tata Motors commercial vehicles are currently exported to a range of markets worldwide. At present the only Tata model available in Australia is the Xenon family of LCV utes, but the range is set to expand with the addition of two truck models followed by a number of passenger car models.

Darren Bowler, CEO of Tata Motors Australia – itself owned by Fusion Automotive, a part of the Walkinshaw Performance Group – recently told trucksales.com.au it was examining a number of possibilities for the company's future in Australia.

"We're looking at what is in the Indian product portfolio that we can bring to Australia," he said.

"We've already publicly talked about Prima, a heavy commercial vehicle, and Ultra, a light- to medium-duty truck – about a 4.5 tonner. Those two will probably be the next two vehicles that we'll move into our stable and we'll then start looking at passenger cars.

"We're looking at bringing in the trucks within the next 18 months, definitely, and the passenger cars within the next three years."

Photo: Heavy-duty Prima prime movers are put through their paces on Tata Motors' Jamshedpur test track.

Tata Motors: 60 years of trucks

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