After starting exports of its mini truck Ace to Sri Lanka, Tata Motors is gearing up to penetrate a large number of foreign markets with the vehicle for which it is developing an upgraded version.
"We are working on a higher payload, high power version of the Ace for some of the developed markets which we plan to tap by next fiscal," Tata Motors President (Light and Small Commercial Vehicles) P M Telang told PTI in New Delhi.
Telang said the target markets for Ace included South Africa, Thailand and Indonesia, apart from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries.
"For markets like South Africa, Thailand and Indonesia, we are working on an upgraded Ace, providing it with a more powerful engine and adding features like power steering and air-conditioning," he said.
Giving an example of the proposed changes, he said it could have a payload of about one-tonne against the 700-kg payload of the current version.
Asked by when the company would start exports to the new markets, he said these could be from the next fiscal. "Those to SAARC countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, which are similar to the Indian market, can start by the next fiscal," he said.
The company, which currently manufactures the Ace at its plant in Pune, sold 30,000 units of its blockbuster vehicle last fiscal after it launched it in May 2005.
Buoyed by the success, it has upped the production capacity for the vehicle to 60,000 units at Pune while going in for a greenfield plant at Uttaranchal.
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