It’s part of a strategy by the Tata Motors to hoist a pick-up truck for use across Latin America, Europe, South East Asia and India.
MUMBAI: The first vehicle sired by the Tata-Fiat global alliance may well be a pick-up truck.
The TL Sprint, as the vehicle is called, was unveiled at the Bologna Motor show in Italy recently.
The progeny may well signal the Tatas’ preparedness to roll out its global pick-up truck. A Tata Motors spokesperson declined to share details.
But automobile website, italiaspeed. com, has reported the unveiling at the Bologna show.
The TL Sprint will be rebadged by Fiat and the four door, all-wheel drive pick-up will be marketed in Latin America and will later make its way towards Europe.
Closer home, the TL Sprint is expected to go into production in 6-8 months, and will be fitted with a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel, italiaspeed said.
The unveiling of TL Sprint at the motor show and the recent announcement by Tata Motors of a joint venture with Thailand-based company, Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant Company are part of a grand plan to unleash a global pick-up truck with minor variations across leading pick-up truck markets excluding North America.
It’s part of a strategy by the Tata Motors to hoist a pick-up truck that conforms to the needs of users across Latin America, select countries in Europe, South East Asia and India.
The display of TL Sprint at Bologna closely follows the announcement made during the fag end of 2006, when the country’s largest auto maker made public its plans to invest about Rs 120 crore in the new 70: 30 joint venture with the Thai-based Thonburi.
The attributes of the pick-up slated for Thailand and what’s displayed in Bologna fit to a tee. But it has different names. For its Thai JV, it is called “Space Cab’, while the vehicle displayed in Bologna is called TL Sprint.
The four door pick-up truck will have a common-rail diesel and will have accessories that are usually not available locally such as power windows, air-conditioning, a CD player and dual airbags as a safety feature.
Fiat and Tata had announced a partnership late last year to develop common platforms for cars.
The Grande Punto and the Linea were said to be the vehicles earmarked for the Indian roads under this.
The venture with Thonburi will produce 30,000 pick-ups initially.
In Thailand, the one tonne pick-up is dubbed as the “space cab” and will be an in-between model between a single cab and crew cab model.
The “space cab” will sport a 3.0-litre Dicor diesel engine with an initial local content of 50 per cent, and mirrors all the features that the TL Sprint boasted at the Bologna Motor Show.
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