Tata Engineering is set to launch three new variants from its passenger cars business unit this calendar year.

They are the petrol variant of the Tata Safari, the Indica sport, a zippy variant of the Indica petrol, and the estate version of the Indica, Rajiv Dube, vice-president (commercial) of the company's passenger cars business unit, said on Tuesday.

Without revealing the specific date for any of the launches, Dube said the Safari will shortly be launched in the petrol version.

It will come fitted with a 2-litre engine offering 135 bhp power, developed in-house, he added. The estate version, which is also scheduled for launch this year, will be the third product from the Indica line, after Indica and the mid-sized Indigo.

While the estate segment in India is very small at present, analysts feel the car would expand the company's product portfolio and may result in higher export volumes.

The Indica Sport, on the other hand, is expected to come with exterior and interior changes on the Indica, and offer better performance.

Analysts say the vehicle will test Tata Engineering's competence against petrol-run competing models in the compact car segment. Currently, an overwhelming majority of Indica sales come from the diesel variant.

Meanwhile, Tata Engineering today launched the limited edition of the Tata Safari, its sports utility offering.

Vehicles from the Tata Safari Limited Edition 2003 are equipped with additional features like a Sony Playstation, 10 audio and video changer, 2 LCD monitors integrated on the front head-rest, a 12-litre refrigerator cum warmer, and a 2.5-inch colour LCD based reverse guide system. The company will produce only 600 vehicles from this limited range.

These vehicles have been priced at Rs 11.35 lakh (Rs 1.1 million) for the 4X2 version and Rs 12.21 lakh (Rs 1.2 million) for the 4X4 version (prices ex-showroom Mumbai).