Dhaka, May 10(ANI): Tata Motors, with its mini truck 'Ace' has taken the small pick-up segment in Bangladesh by storm, consuming more than 90 percent stakes in the small pickup segment in three years since its launch in early 2009, said Selima Ahmad, vice chairperson of Nitol-Niloy Group of Industries, the sole distributor of Tata vehicles in Bangladesh.
Nitol sold 7,800 units of Tata Ace during the January-December period of 2011, up from 3,500 units in 2009.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, Ahmad said that the buyers were attracted to purchase the vehicle due to its ability to navigate through narrow roads with less than one tonne load on it.
"Tata Ace has a very powerful engine and the fuel consumption is very less. It brings profit to the entrepreneurs because the return is higher than the investment. It is not only for the entrepreneurs, it is for the industry owners, it is for the manufacturers, it is for the suppliers and interestingly it is also used in many areas of small town of Bangladesh, where they are using it as a private vehicle," she said.
Tata launched mini trucks in 2005 in the Indian market with an aim to provide businessmen with an option to carry small quantity of goods as they cover short distances. Nitol unveiled the vehicle in Bangladesh after four years.
Explaining their expansion plans, Ahmed said a manufacturing plant with Tata Motors in Bangladesh is in pipeline and plans are in place to export Ace to northeastern region of India.
"We have assembled 45 Tata Ace in Bangladesh, but we are actually planning to setup a separate manufacturing plant with Tata Motors in Bangladesh," she said.
Ahmed added that the plan has the potential to boost the private sector in Bangladesh, besides generating employment opportunities and foreign currency.
"We are aiming to export 50 percent of Tata Ace produced in India, which will be actually produced in Bangladesh with the partnership with Tata Motors and exported to northeastern region of India. I am sure it will enhance the capacity of private sector enterprises in Bangladesh, which will generate employment and foreign currency," she explained.
Further, she said that the scope of getting a pickup truck by paying a small down payment has encouraged many to enter goods transportation business.
Ahmad informed that half of the buyers of Tata Ace rent out the vehicles for transporting goods while the rest use it for commercial purposes. (ANI)
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