Tata bullish on 'Prima' range of trucks

Tata Motors, the country's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, will soon introduce three tippers on its premium 'Prima' range of trucks.

Interacting with reporters here today, Ravindra Pisharody, president (commercial vehicles business units) of Tata Motors, said the company plans to launch proposed models for mining and construction sectors.

"We are expecting it to launch by this month end," he said adding that the company has plan to introduce six to eight new models on 'Prima' range of world trucks platform by the end of this fiscal.

Expressing satisfaction over the company's performance ended on March 31, Pisharody said the year 2010-11 has been the best for the company as they achieved 22% growth.

Commercial vehicles were considered an indicator of economic growth of the country and Tata Motors continued to dominate the domestic market with a market share of 62%, he claimed.

Referring to the performance of the company's 'Prima' world truck, he said the response was initially slow but now it is picking up slowly.

The customers are now realising that their trucks are profitable in the long-term in terms of its durability, reliability, longevity as well as economically, he said.

Claiming that the company's focus will be on the 'Prima' world truck, he said they have made huge investments in this segment at its Jamshedpur plant with an annual capacity of 55,000 units.

Asked about its export prospect, Pisharody said the company has dispatched some 'Prima' world truck models to South Africa and Middle East on a trial basis.

"The prospect of this segment overseas is good and we are expecting to increase our export sales in the current fiscal," he said.

To a query whether the hike in petroleum products affected the automobile sector, he said this has been happening through the last 12 months but the production in the sector did not slow down.