Will new petrol engine Revotron rev up Tata Motors' India sales?

Tata Motors has cut a sorry figure in the domestic passenger vehicle market for many quarters now. Lack of new models and continued decline in overall market for cars have taken their toll. But the company is promising significant improvement in sales through a strong pipeline of new products which will hit showrooms beginning with the Auto Expo early next month.

Two cars, a hatchback and a sedan codenamed Falcon, are expected to be unveiled in February. And a brand new petrol engine Revotron has just been launched. For a company known for its diesel cars, an entire new petrol engine series marks not only a complete shift in strategy but also shows it has finally come to accept market realities.

In an interview to _Firstpost’_s Sindhu Bhattacharya, President of the Passenger Vehicle Business Unit Ranjit Yadav says he expects the Revotron engine series to get them about 10% market share of petrol vehicle market. Ambitious? Read on:

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What has lead diesel vehicle maker Tata Motors to now launch a new petrol engine series? What kind of petrol vehicle demand do you see in 2014 and 2015 (calendar years) and how is this different from the previous two years?

There have been substantial shifts in the national fuel policy and as there is decrease in the diesel prices, the delta between the diesel and petrol pricing is likely to come down, in turn creating a demand for petrol vehicles. Moreover, Tata Motors has carried out substantial R&D work to ensure it offers disruptive, best-in-class engine technology. With the demand likely to be more equitably distributed between petrol & diesel, this represents a big opportunity for Tata Motors.

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At Tata Motors we have developed an evolutionary turbo charged petrol engine which not only justifies the cost of ownership, but also delivers best in class performance and is good for specific users. Tata Motors now aims to have the same amount of share in the petrol market as we have in the diesel market. We currently have a 9-10% market share in just diesel vehicles across segments and we are hoping to look at a similar figure for our petrol variants too.

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Which vehicle will the Revotron first be strapped on? Hatchbacks like Indica or even larger cars? How many models with Revotron to be launched this year?

The Revotron will be first used in the new vehicles which will be launched soon. Keeping in mind the market response, the engines will subsequently be utilised in our extensive product line. The Revotron 1.2 T is the first petrol engine from the Revotron series. It is a Turbocharged Intercooled Multi-point Fuel Injected (MPFi) Petrol Engine. There are future configurations which will be joining this engine which will cover all of the compact segments in the right way over the coming months and years.

What is special about this engine series? Please give me some information about how much fuel efficiency it will generate, its power and other specs. How does it compete with comparable petrol engines of competition, such as Maruti Swift, Hyundai hatchbacks?

The REVOTRON Series is the nex-gen petrol engine that looks to revolutionise the industry with technology that offers the customers the best of petrol technology in performance without compromising on fuel efficiency.

It has been developed by Tata Motors with inputs from renowned global players in the area of combustion, boosting, friction and calibration, to deliver class-leading performance. Tata Motors also worked closely with global engine consultant AVL (Austria) and key technology partners like Bosch, Honeywell, Mahle and INA to bring in the latest technology for the new engine series. REVOTRON 1.2T has been tested for global standards along with a testing car by TEnergy of Korea to ensure that the engine performance is best-in-class. The engine has been manufactured to be light on weight and low on friction, delivering high performance and fuel economy. The REVOTRON series will include 3-and 4-cylinder petrol engines to offer superior performance as well as high fuel efficiency to our customers.

As we get closer to the go-to-market announcements for the new vehicles with this engine, we will offer greater details of fuel-efficiency and other benchmarked data.

How does Tata Motors plan to steer its domestic passenger car business out of slowdown? Some perspective here please, with measures the company will adopt in the short term.

With our HORIZONEXT strategy well in place, based on the four pillars of intense product focus, world-class manufacturing quality, great customer experience in sales and consistent customer service, we are geared to offer great customer value and strengthen our passenger vehicle business. We have finalized a strong product pipeline till 2020 that includes new products as well as variants. After the industry-first of eight new models in June last year, we have had a great beginning already with the new Nano Twist that is already winning rave reviews and the new Vista Tech launched today. More exciting announcements are planned through the year especially at the Auto Expo and we will continue to work to add more to our new-look dealerships.

Has the technology of JLR been married with any passenger cars which you plan to sell in the domestic market but not under the JLR brand?

We collaborate on various initiatives including lot of process learning which continually happens and intellectual assets and facilities are being shared for advance engineering, and testing.

How many new vehicles and vehicle platforms will the company launch at the Expo? Which all segments in the domestic passenger car market will you focus on this year to get back on the growth track?

We have some exciting plans for the Auto Expo that includes new products, interesting variants, aggregates and concept vehicles. We have already shared that we will showcase our new hatch and the new sedan, code named Falcons and look forward to some interesting announcements at the event.