Racing starts bringing gains for Tata's heavy truck business

When the big Tata Prima trucks scorched the track at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida in March 2014 and 2015, the race not only wowed the crowd but also helped Tata Motors grow its heavy truck business.

Developed as the 'World Truck', the Primas in the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship showcased their capabilities by driving at speeds of up to 135kph in multiple races and witnessed by Tata Motors' international distributors.

There were 20 international dealers in the first edition of the race and 60 last year. "When we told our overseas distributors we have a Prima, they believed to an extent. But when they saw it in front of their eyes doing the race the confidence level has gone up tremendously. They went back and asked us to supply them Prima trucks. After that, they got repeat orders," R Ramakrishnan, senior VP - Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors, told Autocar Professional.

The Prima was launched in 2009 and has been a slow starter. Till date around 10,000 units have been sold. The company expects volumes to pick up faster now that it will be sold in more international markets and the demand for modern trucks also grows in the domestic market. Currently, around 300-400 Primas are exported to 10-12 overseas markets every month. Tata Motors plans to ramp up this volume to 700-1000 a month and the number of overseas markets to touch 15-20 by next year.

Developing interest in trucking
But what gives Ramakrishnan satisfaction is the growing respect for drivers in their respective societies, triggered by the only truck racing event in the country. The 2016 edition of the championship will see, for the first time, a race among Indian drivers. This will be in addition to the main race which will see foreign drivers competing for top honours. A total of 540 drivers working with fleet operators were chosen to be groomed at the Chennai race track for the event on March 20. Seventeen of them, with ages ranging from 24 to 40 years, have made the cut so far. The final selection round on March 17 will home in on the 12 drivers. "It's early days but there's a beginning of change in the image of a driver. There's respect for a driver, and respect for the driving profession is beginning to spread through these guys. Right now it is a small number of people. But it is a ripple," says Ramakrishnan.

This is good news, not only for Tata Motors but also for the entire trucking industry. It is estimated that around 15 percent of the total trucking fleet in India lies idle due to lack of drivers. 

Also read: 2016 Tata Prima T1 championship to be held on March 20