Tata Motors, the country's largest automobile manufacturer, has stepped into the super-luxury inter-city bus segment with the launch of the Tata Divo. This would make them the third player in the country in this segment after Volvo and Mercedes.

Acknowledging that they are a late entrant into this segment, Mr Ashish Tandon, Head (Marketing) of the buses division at Tata Motors, said that the company has entered this segment with “full solutions.” He was speaking at the launch of the Divo in Mumbai.

Tata Divo is priced in the Rs 66 lakh-90 lakh bracket (ex-showroom Thane) with a seating capacity between 37 and 45. Compared to Volvo and Mercedes, it is priced 10 per cent lower, said Mr Tandon. The company plans to roll out around 150 buses in this category in the first year. The super-luxury bus segment is a relatively small market in India with a roll-out of around 40-50 buses a month.

Tata Divo is already being sold as a global brand out of Europe under the Tata Hispano Motor Carrocera, Tata's European subsidiary based in Spain. The buses are built out of the Tata Motors plant in Goa. “Tata Divo has already been launched in the northern region. The company has got orders for another 25-50 vehicles, of which 15-20 have already been delivered,” added Mr Tandon.

Along with Tata Divo, the company on Wednesday also launched new variants in the Tata Starbus Ultra range. These are in the mini- and mid-bus segments and will be available in the luxury, standard, school and deluxe variants.

“We are already present in this segment. The Tata Starbus Ultra has premium features over the existing buses in this category. The pricing is also at a 20-30 per cent premium,” said Mr Ravi Pisharody, President- Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors.

The buses have been priced in the Rs 15-22 lakh range (ex-showroom Thane) and will be available in the 22-46 seating configuration.

> sneha.p@thehindu.co.in

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