Tata Motors Floats Tuff Truck Concept
Tata Motors revealed a new concept truck called the Tuff Truck as part of the National 4x4 Outdoors Show & Fishing and Boating Expo in Melbourne, Australia (typically the biggest adventure-themed show in the country), over the weekend.
Tata unveiled the small Tuff Truck concept as part of its brand-building strategy in Australia. Based on the popular light-commercial compact truck platform, the Tata Xenon, the Tuff Truck has 20-inch billet aluminum wheels, an integrated front winch and fog lights in a custom bumper, a bed-mounted roll bar, undercarriage rock guards, a snorkel attachment and roof-mounted spotlights. According to some news reports, Tata officials have been impressed with the response to the Tuff Truck, so it is believed the concept will likely go into limited production.
The standard Xenon will offer a turbo-diesel 2.2-liter inline four-cylinder and will go on sale in Australia in October. Pricing has not been announced, but a huge part of Tata's brand identity is offering segment competitors at an impressively low starting price.
Will Tata vehicles land on U.S. shores? Some news reports say Tata Motors will be selling vehicles in the U.S. by the 2015 model year, but the company still must overcome many hurdles, not the least of which are the difficult frontal and side-impact safety tests that have prevented other smaller import companies (remember Mahindra?) from entering the U.S. compact and midsize pickup truck segment.
We've always believed an economically priced, capable and efficient small pickup truck could do well in the U.S. marketplace, but until an official announcement is made about building a plant here or we see the trucks being off-loaded from a tanker, we won't hold our breath.
Comments
I LIKE IT A LOT!!!! SIGN ME UP FOR ONE! ESPECIALLY DIESEL!!!
Looks kind of cool, Don't know if it would be cool to Say "I drive a TATA"
Sure looks a lot better than the Mahindra too! I'd like to see one here, especially if quality is better than expected.
Save the TaTas!!
Death to the Chicken Tax!
I hope they do bring it here,the more compact diesel trucks available here in the USA,the better for all of us consumers.
I would LOVE this for my farm truck. A full size is cool, but a winch, under-body protection, cheap and easy to repair? I grant that it won't haul more than maybe 1 large round bale at a time, but all I do is small bales in small quantities. And need to pull a stump, or need to pull a trailer with wire.
In other words, I've got by really well with 2005 Ford F-150 V6 with 3.73 gears. That only has 260ft-lbs total.
Would rather have a jeep Rubicon. Don't we already have the Nissan xtera in the states.
It looks like the current Nissan Frontier.
I am waiting for the upcoming Chevy Colorado/GM Canyon.
American Trucks please.
@Rick - you wouldn't want to say "nice Tata's" in mixed company ;)
It looks okay. It would need to clear safety and emission standards as well as tariff hurdles.
Reminds me of the feminist revolution and bra burning which freed the "Tata"s".
We now need to burn the chicken tax to free the "Tata's".
The Xenon isn't a big mover here yet, it's new. It will be priced against the Great Wall I would gather and as a 4x4 pickup with power everything and leather come in under $30 000 drive away. If you could get them in the US I would expect you would pay low $20 000s.
Tata are supposed to be quite reliable vehicles. But it is an unknown. Looks okay and for the cheap prices, drive them for five years and throw them away.
It's a real pity about the tariffs and barriers that afflict the insular US vehicle market and don't allow or make it exceptionally hard for vehicles like this little diesel to be sold in the USA. One day Canada should dump rather than support the US socialist taxes and barriers. It's amazing how the few (UAW) can control the many sometimes.
I've been told many times that full size trucks are a very strong a market, so removing the chicken tax and barriers shouldn't impact anything.
"but the company still must overcome many hurdles, not the least of which are the difficult frontal and side-impact safety tests that have prevented other smaller import companies (remember Mahindra?) from entering the U.S. compact and midsize pickup truck segment."
Right on. There is no reason to lower the safety barriers for these midsizers.
And anyone that thinks we should lower the safety barriers is kidding themselves in a pretty big way.
@ Mark
Are they unsafe? What is there ANCAP star rating?
As for Tata, they are supposed to be reliable, don't know about fit and finish.
What engine is the diesel based on?
There are a lot of questions unanswered, like you stated.
Hope this cheap thing never reaches our shores. Quality and China or India never go together!
@Big Al--Keep us updated on this truck after it has been on the market. If you could post a link on any road tests on this truck I would appreciate it. The looks and the price look good but then the quality and reliability is not well known. If it is decent quality then this will sell.
@Mark - it isn't a matter of being unsafe. different jurisdictions have different safety and emission standards. ANCAP standards are safer with some things and less safe in other areas. Experts have stated that compliance with different safety standards is equivalent to a 26% tariff. It is classified as a "technical barrier" to trade.
Ford is lobbying to gain reciprocal agreements between the EU and USA for their products. That should indicate that they feel that their isn't a big difference in safety standards between the two regions.
I wouldn't drive one of these unless you don't care about your life.
BREAKING NEWS!!!!
Ford to pay $17 million in U.S. settlement over slow recall.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/01/us-autos-ford-settlement-idUSBRE9700W820130801
Remember all the hype about the mahindra diesel pickup.It didn't come close to the promised mpg,took a lot longer to pass the feds tests,and then it was flushed down the crapper by mahindra,lol.Did Tata learn anything from all the mistakes that mahindra made? Who knows,but I will say this,don't hold your breath.
This TATA wouldnt pass American safety standards.
BREAKING NEW!!!
Aug. 25, 2013
NHTSA investigates MORE Jeep fires
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday it is investigating reports of three major fires in Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicles.
The agency said a preliminary investigation into 146,000 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokees was prompted by reports from consumers the vehicle headliner near the passenger side sun visor had caught fire, The Detroit News reported.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2013/08/25/AutoOutlook-NHTSA-investigates-Jeep-fires/UPI-94761377423000/?spt=hs&or=bn
More Breaking news
Popular police cars Crown Victorias prone to explode, tied to deaths.
By one estimate, fiery Ford Crown Victoria crashes have claimed more lives than the notorious Ford Pinto, subject of a nationwide recall in 1978. "Basically, the Crown Vic is a big Pinto," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a Washington-based advocacy group.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/popular-police-cars-crown-victorias-prone-to-explo/nLszC/
I saw a TATA(They actually own Jaguar and LandRover) in Cornwall in the UK. Much better on the eyes than the Mahindra, but their reliability and driving charateristics leave much to be desired. That is why they could not make much of an impression in the UK. Again not exactly a "Pickup loving Country" but nonetheless the TATA made little impression.
Hemi, 2 years old articles is not breaking news.
If Chrysler is so good, quit the scaremongering and nonsense. The Crown Vic case has been debunked here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Crown_Victoria#Fuel_tank
@Paul, Debunked. You can believe that bud. lol
Ambroise, who died last year, is the latest of at least 30 law enforcement officers since 1983 who fell victim to fiery Crown Victoria crashes. Five were in Florida. Another 20 escaped patrol cars that crashed and caught fire.
Stay thirsty my friend!
@Paul - don't bother, all you do is fan the flames.
@Lou and Robert Ryan,
The Chinese and Indian truck manufacturers will improve safety quickly. They will have to to remain competitive.
Traction control, stability control, etc are not a feature of these vehicles yet. Once they start to provide those features the price of their vehicles will rise. But they will be cheaper.
The Xenon I could see as a challenger to the other Chinese and Indian made vehicles. They are competing to a lesser degree with the established players from Japan, Europe and Australia.
But farmers will buy these instead of a John Deere 6 wheeler or quad.
Since Jag and Rover are part of Tata I wonder if the 2.2 is a Duratorque copy?
If this truck is offered in the states than more the merrier!
We, as the consumers have always benefited from more competition.
If you want to stick with American products so be it but this should up the ante to keep that loyalty.
Flood the truck market with products of all types. The consumer will decide what we like and dislike (especially if it's diesel!).
And what is the cost of this? Probably 50K. For that price give me a Raptor.
What the hell is the point of this article? It'll never happen.
@Tim - there is the occasional intelligent remark buried in the bowels of PUTC blogs and hopefully companies like Tata will use sites such as this to gauge interest.
Well here in Australia bla bla bla bla bla.
HEMi V8, shut your Ford bashing trap.
At least Ford volentarily recalled their Fusions despite not a single one having caught fire from the issue.
Cry-sler refused to recall their vehicles despite MANY cases of the cars having burst into flames.
The name TATA for a car company just doesn't fly with me. The truck looks good though.
@HEMI V8.
it was a fraud. The Crown Vic is no more likely to catch fire than any other vehicle.
The cases were the result of the Crown Victoria representing vast majority of police vehicles (especially Highway Patrol). When they pull people over they are at high risk from a rear end collisions at high speeds, many in excess of 75 mph.
Several departments tested the Crown Vic and found it to be no greater danger than the average vehicle in a rear end collision. Ford actually went the extra mile and in 2004 despite there not even being a problem and improved the vehicle heavily.
By the way Hemi V8, Chrysler is the only American auto company as of 2013 that has the fuel tank behind the rear axle in several vehicles.
It appears this concept is an Australian idea done by a former HSV/Wilkinshaw/Audi man. Here are some links to reviews.
From what I can gather later this year it will come here with stability and traction control.
They are rated much better than the Chinese vehicles. They appear to be better than I thought.
Enjoy the links.
http://www.carsguide.com.au/news-and-reviews/car-reviews-road-tests/tata_xenon_ute_review_first_drive?origin=hpc2
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/57175/tata-reveals-australian-designed-tuff-truck-xenon-ute-concept
http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/87D00EF32EC734BDCA257BB100154A79
@ HEMI V8 Is stupid,
@Paul,
The Jeep Grand Cherokee was debunked as well...The accident where 1 Jeep caught on fire was when the Jeep got rear ended by a 80,000 pound plus loaded Big Rig the Rig was doing 60 plus mph ! And people survived in the old Jeep it was a 1990's model ,they should have praised the Jeep for keeping them alive,if they were in a small car they would be all gonners !!
So it was not unsafe or unreliable as it was a 20 something year old Jeep,still cruisin the roads..By the way the issues are with aftermarket trailer hitches,not factory hitches or Jeeps without hitches,only aftermarket hitches,something nobody was ever ordered to do a recall for !
As for the new Jeeps that may catch on fire,there have been at least 4 Ford fire alerts/recalls in the past 2 years and even GM and Toyota fire recalls,so Furd isnt the best as they used the free government money they got from the bailout (more than Chrysler and Chrysler had to pay it back Furd didnt it was a gift)
By the way,Mopars rule..GM,Ford,Toyota all use a Chrysler HEMI in Top Fuel !! Drag boats run Mopar HEMI's !!
Ford has more recalls and issues then Chrysler,we even see it on this site,every small Chrysler recall they list it,while Ford/GM/Toyota they bury it under the rug...As usual Journelists are biased and dont report everything that comes out,only selective things..thats why main stream news is dead they are biased !
I want a truly honest car site that reports the facts,not opinion...List every car companies recalls and dont favor one or another..
Best way to do that would be have a journelist who is a proven Mopar fan,a Ford fan ,a GM fan ,a Toyota fan then they all can report each companies issues,accurately,not biased like they are.
@Big Al from Oz - for some odd reason, I'd be more inclined to trust an Indian truck than a Chinese one. Thanks Wallmart ;)
"The Jeep Grand Cherokee was debunked as well...The accident where 1 Jeep caught on fire was when the Jeep got rear ended by a"
Mopar Hemi,
This is a new report and not to be confused from the older Jeep Grand Cherokees that got rear ended and caught fire.
The NHTSA said on Friday this has to do with the headliners catching fire on 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokees. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2013/08/25/AutoOutlook-NHTSA-investigates-Jeep-fires/UPI-94761377423000/?spt=hs&or=bn
The ceiling fires is a NEW incident. It doesn't get any more clearer than this...
NHTSA Investigates Jeep Grand Cherokee After Reports of Fire
Jeep may have another fire-related issue on its hands. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently launched an investigation focusing on the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee after it received three reports from owners who claim that their vehicles inexplicably caught fire.
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee interior 300x199 imageAccording to the report, owners first smelled a burning odor before smoke and flames emerged from the headliner near the passenger side sun visor.
http://wot.motortrend.com/nhtsa-investigates-jeep-grand-cherokee-after-reports-of-fire-397727.html
2013 Ford Escape recalled for third time, again for fire risk [UPDATE]
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/05/2013-ford-escape-recalled-for-third-time-again-for-fire-risk/
Update? That update is from a year ago.
@Lou and Paul, I agree with HEMI V8. We drive Ram trucks and Ford is Fire Recall king! Why do we need to buy a ford truck when Ram has treated us so well?
I drive a Ram Truck. I will do some research before buying another vehicle. As it stands right now Ford is the Fire Recall king. Until they get these electrical fires under control i will not be buying their product period. My 03 1500 4x4 5.7 has had no recalls what so ever. Why do i need to buy a ford truck, when my Ram has treated me so well?
Nobody said what you should buy. Buy what you want. Just stop repeating false information. Don't report 10 year old or 1 year old news as "breaking." It is becoming a vicious circle and is called scaremongering. You resort to scaremongering if you have something to hide or compensate for.
Look at the recalls for 2011. Don't just look at the number of recalled vehicles, but also the number sold.
1
Honda / Acura
3,800,000 recalls
1,147,000 sold
2
Toyota
3,500,000 recalls
1,644,000 sold
3
Ford
3,300,000 recalls
2,143,000 sold
4
Chrysler
773,000 recalls
1,369,114 sold
Chrysler recalled the least but has almost twice as many as recalls as sold!
Look at the big picture is all I am saying.
Ford hasn't yet pinpointed the problem that led to 13 engine fires.
Recall a big blow to Escape, Fusion
As embarrassments go, Ford Motor couldn't face a worse recall than one that wraps together two critical 2013 vehicles and a technology that it has spent the most time and money trying to burnish: Fusion sedan, Escape crossover and the EcoBoost turbocharged engine.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2012/12/03/ford-fusion-escape-recall-engine-fires/1743203/
@Paul and Lou, Thanks for the info, but you screwed up this time and are now slandering chrysler! Ford has more recalls AND a higher percentage of recall PER THE VEHICLES SOLD! Chrysler recalls is 54%, not double, and Ford is 64%. YOU LOSE.
You got me there but you are again posting year old articles as news. Plus you forgot the update from 7 days later that said the cause was pinpointed by Ford. This is why I say you use scaremongering and false info.
It says the issue was fixed with a simple software update.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2012/12/10/ford-recall-escape-fusion-ecoboost/1759063/
Lets talk trucks. Ram is the recall king for trucks this year. Ram is the only truck this year with fire recalls and embarassing incidents with fires. Fire incidents and burnt electrical problems are all over the forums.
Texas Journalist Watches Ram Longhorn Burn
Do you know what to do if your vehicle catches fire? Thankfully, Texas auto writer Terry Box knew enough to steer off the expressway to the side of the road and get out of his brand-new Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn press vehicle
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2013/03/texas-journalist-watches-ram-longhorn-burn.html
Ram Truck chief engineer Mike Cairns walks us around the new multidisplacement 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 on the coming 2014 Ram 2500 and explains what’s new on the segment-exclusive three-quarter-ton pickup’s coil spring suspension. This is the just the latest in a series of videos Ram Truck created (the last one we showed was on EcoDiesel) to try to get the word out about all the changes coming on the 2014 heavy-duty pickup trucks. We expect to see videos about the new airbag suspension and stronger Cummins engine as well.
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2013/08/ram-video-showcases-2014-hd-hemi-coil-springs.html
GUTS
GLORY
THE INNOVATION LEADER
RAM!
@Lou - What "experts"? The 26% "tax equivalent" is obviously a number someone pulled out of their A$$!!! It can not be substantiated by any means what so ever. It would vary tremendously from OEM to OEM and model to model. Of course this cost is amortized, or becomes less with the more cars you sell yearly and for the entire production run (or generation). Pennies per car when talking about cars that sell up to a million for each generation or platform.
26% is a crazy, insane number, especially when talking about VWs and even Audis, already selling in the US. But then US regs don't single out European cars. Japanese and Korean cars are also hit with the costs of complying with US regs. Imagine what 26% would do to their prices. Durrrrr...
If we're talking low volume (import) niche cars, then it starts to make sense. But it never makes sense to sell these except in their home markets, if at all.
It was pulled out of Lou's @ss!!!
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