Tata World Truck on sale in August

Tata Motors launched its all-new ‘World Truck’ commercial vehicle in Mumbai on May 29. Developed at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore, the range comprises multi-axle trucks, tractor-trailers, tippers, mixers and special application vehicles.

The new trucks will be built at Tata’s Jamshedpur and Gunsan, South Korea plants, which have an initial production capacity of 55,000 units per annum. This can be increased to 150,000 units over time.

Besides India, they would also be gradually introduced in foreign markets like South Korea, South Africa, the SAARC countries and the Middle East. Tata plans to eventually sell half its World Truck volumes in overseas markets. The company is currently launching some pilot batches in the market to get feedback from transporters and will commence sales in August.

While the company did not announce pricing at the time of launch, we expect the four-axle tipper model to be priced around Rs 48-50 lakh, which is 30 percent cheaper than the equivalent Volvo tipper.

Tata dealers are believed to be keen to get the tipper first, as there is considerable interest in this model. This pricing would also make Tata’s tipper the cheapest in its segment, compared to rival models from Scania and Mercedes.

According to Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Motors, “The developing infrastructure in India makes it possible for transporters to reap the benefit of trucks with higher power, speed and carrying capacity. The new range from Tata Motors will meet those needs. It will also help us penetrate international markets more effectively.”

Tata Daewoo in South Korea and Tata's European Technical Centre in the UK helped in the development of the World Truck, while Stile Bertone of Italy styled the cabs.