Tata Intra – The New Tata Mini Truck

Tata Motors, the pioneer and market leader in Small Commercial Vehicles space in India, showcased the new Intra mini truck at the 14th Auto Expo in Greater Noida. Tata Motors claims that the new Tata Intra mini truck will re-define the intra-city mini trucks segment in the country with its next levels of performance, comfort & convenience. The platform is built on the company's new Premium Tough philosophy for Commercial Vehicles that combines rising levels of visual richness and sophistication with robustness and reliability.

Tata Intra Akshay Kumar

Actor Akshay Kumar unveiling the new Tata Intra at Auto Expo 2018 (Greater Noida)

Body Variants & Loading Capacity of the New Tata Intra Mini Truck:

  • The new Tata Intra mini truck, with best in class 8.2 Ft load body length, will be offered in 2 variants Intra 1.1 with payload capacity of 1100 Kg and Tata Intra 1 with payload capacity of 1100 Kg.
  • Placed on the front is a walk-through, wider & longer cabin with contemporary fresh looks that offers superior ergonomics. At the very outset, this new Tata mini truck looks bold and impressive with big headlamps and a broad grill in the middle.

Tata Intra 1.1 Grey

Engine & Specifications of the New Tata Intra Mini Truck :

  • Beneath the full-forward cabin, powering the new Tata Intra 1.1 is a 1.4L DICOR diesel engine that produces a peak power of 70 HP and 140 Nm torque.
  • Whereas Tata Intra 1 is powered by 0.8L DICOR engine to produce 40 HP and 96 Nm peak torque. Both the engines are mated to 5 speed gearbox, to offer a class leading gradeability of 40% and 46% respectively.

Features :

  • In terms of features and comfort, the new Tata Mini Truck will offer a host of features like
    • Power Steering
    • Mobile charging point
    • Lockable glove box
    • Storage on dashboard & door trims
    • Digital instrument cluster
    • Car like interiors and much more.

Tata Intra Interiors

Modern interiors and walk-through cabin Superior driving comfort & Ergonomics, enhanced acceleration and speed will offer lower turnaround time leading to higher number of trips and will thus increase productivity and profitability for the owner.

Background History of Tata Mini Trucks :

In 2005, Tata Motors introduced Tata Ace, India's first mini-truck. Tata mini trucks are popularly referred to as "Chota Hathi" in the market place. This was a new segment being created for last mile connectivity, for taking light loads over short distances. It offered superior safety, versatile performance in varied conditions, ease-of-maintenance, style, comfort and cost-effectiveness, in a way not experienced by the small cargo vehicles owners (especially the 3 wheelers). To penetrate further in terms of last mile transportation, Tata Ace Zip was launched in 2011, followed by Tata Super Ace Mint in 2014 and Ace Mega in 2015. Ace family journey over the years Tata Mini Trucks product portfolio, rightly called as the Ace family, became so popular that the total sales recently crossed the milestone of 20 lakh vehicles on road. The company claims a new Ace is being sold every 3 minutes, for the last 12 years!

Read More : Tata Signa 4323.T India's first 6 axle rigid truck

The entry of Tata Super Ace however did not reach great height of success, owing to electronic engine related issues and the front independent suspension, which requires frequent tyre alignment and higher maintenance. Tata Motor has therefore placed rigid front suspension in the Intra series, taking a learning from the Tata Super Ace case study. In-fact, front independent suspension proved to be detrimental for Mahindra Maxi Truck as well (both Supro as well as the earlier Maxximo). And therefore one can notice the recent shift to rigid front suspension in Mahindra Supro Maxi Truck as well (rechristened as Supro HD Series).
 

20 Lakh Tata Ace Milestone

New Intra mini truck platform, is no doubt a step to upgrade the customers and fulfill the increasing aspirations for better styling and comfort. This shall also help Tata Motors to maintain its supremacy in the increasingly competitive Small Commercial Vehicles space that is attracting new players, latest being India's top carmaker, Maruti Suzuki with its brand Super Carry.

Maruti Super Carry

Maruti Suzuki Super Carry  

Tata Small Commercial Vehicles Competitors :

A Not only the Maruti Super Carry which is gaining numbers month-on-month, but even the Mahindra Supro and Mahindra Jeeto volumes have also been taking away a share of the SCV market pie from the market leader. All these manufacturers along with Piaggio entry into 4 tyre mini-truck market (though Piaggio Porter has not been able to make a dent into competition volumes), have only heated up the competition for the Tata Mini Trucks portfolio, which once upon a time, used to be the monopoly of Tata Motors.

Overall Strategy of Tata Motors in Mini Trucks & Pickups segment : On one side Tata Motors is trying to retain its leadership position in mini trucks space by introducing newer and newer models. On the other hand Tata Motors is challenging the Mahindra Bolero Pickup, the market leader in Pickups space, with its recently introduced Xenon Yodha and its 2 sister concerns Xenon Yodha Eco and Xenon Yodha Plus 1500.