Tata plans big push for Prima trucks

Aims to do annual sales of 10,000 units next year

Prima range, which promises increased productivity and longer life at a premium of 10-12 per cent, is targeted at large captive users, miners, transporters as also owner-drivers who operate small fleets.

Tata Motors hopes to double the sales of its Prima range of modern medium and heavy trucks by next year.

The company believes that the adoption of technologically-advanced trucks will start to gain momentum in India in the coming months.

“We are looking to produce 500 units a month in the next 2-3 months, and quickly hit 1,000 units a month. As we are ramping up, there are some bottlenecks in our supply chain and that are getting addressed. We plan look to do annual sales of 10,000 units in Prima range next year and that will be about 10 per cent of our M&HCV (25-tonne and above segment) volumes,” Ravi Pisharody, Executive Director – Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors, told

The Hindu at the company’s Jamshedpur plant, where India’s truck journey began in 1954 when the Tatas rolled out their first truck.

Prima range, which promises increased productivity and longer life at a premium of 10-12 per cent, is targeted at large captive users, miners, transporters as also owner-drivers who operate small fleets. These trucks, which are now offered mainly in the 25-tonne and above categories, will compete against Ashok Leyland’s U-truck range, Daimler’s BharatBenz, Volvo-Eicher’s Pro Series in the M&HCV segment.

Recovery in M&HCV (medium and heavy commercial vehicle) volumes, expansion of Prima product range, and changing preferences of buyers, among others, are cited as key factors for the projected growth in Prima range of trucks.

“The big push will happen now. Earlier, Prima was in only tractor trailers and tippers. Now Prima is also coming in multi-axle vehicle (MAV) segment, a key growth area in M&HCV segment,” he added. The company has sold over 5,000 units of Prima tractor trailers and tippers in the Indian market since the introduction in 2009-10.

Mr.Pisharody also said the Jamshedpur truck complex, which is celebrating 60 years of truck manufacturing, would be its hub for production of Prima trucks through it assembled trucks in Lucknow and Pune.

With a production capacity of one lakh units, Jamshedpur factory assembles over 200 models comprising multi-axle trucks, tractor-trailers, tippers, mixers and special application vehicles targeting civilian and defence segments.

(This correspondent was in Jamshedpur recently at the invitation of the company)