Tata Motors launches upgraded entry utility vehicle range

Mumbai, April 25, 2007: Tata Motors today announced the launch of a new Upgraded range of its entry level utility vehicle offering, the Tata Spacio. Named the Spacio Gold Plus, the new range seeks to enhance customer experience in the areas of performance, fuel economy, comfort and convenience. With the new offering, Tata Motors is aiming to increase its penetration in the rapidly growing personal/family vehicle segment in the semi-urban market.

Spacio Gold Plus gets a new heart in the form of the 3 Litre, DI engine which now gets Turbocharged to substantially raise the maximum power and torque ratings to 70 PS (at 3000 rpm) and 223 Nm (at 2200 rpm) respectively. This has led to a considerable improvement in the overall performance and driveability of the vehicle.

The enhancement in power has been accompanied by a significant raising of the fuel efficiency of the vehicle by over 15%. The Spacio Gold Plus delivers a best in class 15 kmpl (under test conditions) thus enhancing upon a key market requirement. The vehicle is also characterised by a much lower NVH (noise vibration and harshness). The entire Spacio range now comes with best in class turning circle radius of 4.9 metres.

Spacio Gold Plus has been launched in 2 trim levels, both sporting power steering with a soft touch steering wheel, front bucket seats, new decals and refined interiors. The spare wheel has been relocated under the body to provide a clean uncluttered rear look. Both the variants come in 2 seating configurations: 6 + driver and 8 + driver. The upper variant has several comfort features, like air conditioning, central locking with key-less entry and immobilizer, and CD/MP3 music system.

The Spacio range is the entry level variant of the widely popular Tata Sumo. Tata Motors sold a total of 47,893 utility vehicles, including 32,007 of the Sumo family, during 2006-07. This represented a growth of 26.4% over the previous year compared to the segment growth of 13.4%. Cumulative sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market for the fiscal were 226,893 nos., the highest ever in any year and a growth of 20% over the previous year. The cumulative sales of Indica were 144,690 nos., an increase of 30% and the highest in any fiscal. The Indigo range posted sales of 34,310 nos., a decline of 13%, but lesser than the decline of the entry mid-size segment.

About Tata Motors: Tata Motors is India's largest automobile company, with revenues of US$ 5.5 billion in 2005-06. With over 4 million Tata vehicles plying in India, it is the leader in commercial vehicles and the second largest in passenger vehicles. It is also the world's fifth largest medium and heavy truck manufacturer and the second largest heavy bus manufacturer. Tata cars, buses and trucks are being marketed in several countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and South East Asia and in Australia. Tata Motors and Fiat Auto have formed an industrial joint venture in India to manufacture passenger cars, engines and transmissions for the Indian and overseas markets; Tata Motors also has an agreement with Fiat Auto to build a pick-up vehicle at Córdoba, Argentina. The company already distributes Fiat-branded cars in India. Tata Motors' international footprint include Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co. Ltd. in South Korea; Hispano Carrocera, a bus and coach manufacturer of Spain in which the company has a 21% stake; a joint venture with Marcopolo, the Brazil-based body-builder of buses and coaches; and a joint venture with Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant Company of Thailand to manufacture and market pickup vehicles in Thailand. Tata Motors has research centres in India, the UK, and in its subsidiary and associate companies in South Korea and Spain.