Tata enters autorickshaw space in A'bad with 4-wheel Magic Iris

Claims vehicle has more space for the driver and passenger along with a seat belt

Tata Motors entered the autorickshaw space in Ahmedabad with its four-wheeler CNG vehicle called Magic Iris, and hopes to eat into the share of the ubiquitous three-wheeler autorickshaws in the city.

There are about 200,000 registered autorickshaws in Ahmedabad, informed JB Rao, assistant regional transport officer. The Tata Magic Iris is priced at around Rs 3.41 lakh which is much higher than the conventional autorickshaw from Bajaj Auto, which is priced around Rs 200,000 for a four-stroke variant.

Tata Motors claimed that the vehicle had a closed steel body and hard steel top with more space for the driver and passenger along with a seat belt. "It is not only more comfortable and convenient both for the driver and the passenger but also a more safer and environment-friendly option," said K S Rao, regional sales manager, commercial vehicle business unit, Tata Motors.

The Magic Iris is equipped with a 611 cc single cylinder engine and according to Rao has been tested in Ahmedabad city traffic conditions to offer a fuel efficiency of 29.6 km per litre. The company is working on making easy finance options available to its buyers so that initial higher price did not hurt, and has tied up several public sector banks including Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India etc

Rao claimed that while the conventional autorickshaw was not comfortable for the driver and would fatigue him after a daily trip of about 50-70 kms, the Magic Iris allows him to make more trips and drive upto 100-120 kms per day without physical fatigue. "It is the number of kilometers travelled that would make the difference in terms of operative economics," he said.