Tata Xenon News

An Indian-made ute has scored just two stars out of a possible five for crash safety, joining two Chinese-made Great Wall utes that received the same "poor" rating four years ago. The result has concerned the nation’s peak safety body given that more cars are due to be imported from developing countries in the coming years."With the demise of local vehicle manufacturing on the horizon, we are sure to see a range of new models hitting our shores from emerging markets," said Lauchlan McIntosh, the chairman of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program.ANCAP is a not-for-profit independent body funded primarily by roads and traffic authorities and motoring services bodies in each state and territory. "ANCAP will keep on top of these and ensure motorists are being offered the safest cars possible," said Mr McIntosh.The Tata Xenon ute, which went on sale last October, is the fourth vehicle to earn such a low safety score in the past five years. The only vehicle to score lower than a two-star rating in that time is the Malaysian-made Proton Jumbuck ute, which scored just one star when it was tested in 2010.ANCAP said the Tata ute "performed fairly well" in the frontal offset crash test but was penalised for its lack of stability control, which can prevent a skid in corners and deemed to be the next life-saver after the invention of the seatbelt.Stability control technology has been compulsory on passenger cars sold in Australia for the past two years, but is yet to be mandated for commercial vehicles. ANCAP also noted the Tata Xenon lacks side and curtain airbags; the majority of new utes on sale now come with at least six airbags as standard.The managing director of Tata Motors Australia, Darren Bowler, said: "We’re confident the safety score will improve with the arrival of updated models with stability control in the coming months. If you look at the occupant protection score in isolation, the Xenon ute already performs better than many established brands."Just 100 Tata Xenon utes have been sold in Australia since October last year. An updated range with stability control is due mid-year. The Tata ute line-up starts at $20,990 drive-away but the model tested was a dual-cab ute that costs $23,490 drive-away and has a rear-view camera as standard to help boost its safety score.ANCAP crash tests are done at a higher speed than the Federal Government requirements, but have become the default standard internationally and are credited with the dramatic improvements in car safety over the past 10 years. The occupant protection score is measured after crashing a car at 64km/h. To test the structural integrity of the vehicle and to mirror a head-on crash, 40 per cent of the frontal area (on the driver’s side) strikes the barrier.Five-star safety utes, offset crash-test scoresFord Ranger ute 15.72 out of 16 -- October 2011Mazda BT-50 ute 15.72 out of 16 – December 2011Holden Colorado ute 15.09 out of 16 -- July 2012Isuzu D-Max ute 13.58 out of 16 – November 2013Toyota HiLux ute 12.86 out of 16 -- November 2013Four-star safety utesNissan Navara ute 10.56 out of 16 -- February 2012Mitsubishi Triton ute 9.08 out of 16 -- February 2010Two-star safety utesTata Xenon ute 11.27 out of 16 -- March 2014Great Wall V240 ute 2.36 out of 16 -- June 2009One-star safety uteProton Jumbuck ute 1.0 out of 16 -- February 2010This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

Vehicle giant Tata has rolled out the Xenon ute with pricing of $22,990 driveway as the starting point for its six models

Tata will launch its six-variant Xenon range into local showrooms in October.

The new challenger in the bargain-basement end of the ute market has heralded its arrival with a high-riding concept pick-up styled by the head of design at Holden Special Vehicles.The new Australian distributor of Tata pick-ups has unveiled a one-off show car ahead of the brand’s showroom debut next month. The Tata “Tuff Truck” is not likely to make it into production but some of the locally-designed accessories may become a reality.Tata vehicles are distributed by a company owned by the Walkinshaw family, who also happen to represent Holden Special Vehicles, which is where the design services of Julian Quincey came in. The same person who styled the new HSV GTS had a hand in the added extras on this Tata Xenon ute.“We wanted to create a concept car that reflected Australians’ love of the outdoors and the ruggedness of our landscape,” said Darren Bowler, the managing director of Tata distributor Fusion Automotive.“By engaging Julian Quincey and the Walkinshaw Automotive engineering and design teams in the development of the concept vehicle we have been able to leverage over 25 years in vehicle design and styling to produce a concept vehicle.”Quincey said: “I think the humble crew-cab ute has already become an object of desire in its own right and we wanted to show how well the Xenon design works when carefully visually developed to suit the local market.”The Tata brand will return to Australia next month but the vehicle it is most famous for — the tiny Nano city runabout, at $2800 the cheapest car in the world — will not be among the models for sale. Tata will relaunch with a new range of utes called the Xenon later this year before adding passenger cars next year. Prices and model details of the ute are not yet announced but the company said the range “will offer a greater level of value than what is currently available in the market”. The prices of Chinese utes start at $17,990.Tata vehicles have been sold on and off in Australia since 1996 after a Queensland distributor began importing them mainly for farm use.  There are an estimated 2500 Tata heavy-duty pick-ups on Australian roads already. But there are many more Indian-made cars on Australian roads, albeit with foreign badges. More than 20,000 Indian-made Hyundai i20 hatchbacks and more than 14,000 Indian-made Suzuki Alto small cars have been sold in Australia since 2009.But other, Indian-branded vehicles have not been so successful. Australian sales of the Mahindra range of utes and SUVs have been so weak the distributor is yet to report them to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.The original Mahindra ute scored a poor two stars out of five in independent crash tests and was later upgraded to three stars following engineering changes. The Mahindra SUV launched with a four-star rating at a time when most vehicles are awarded five stars. There is as yet no star-rating for crash safety on the new Tata ute range.However, the new distributor for Tata vehicles in Australia believes the origin of the vehicles will be a competitive advantage. “There is no tougher place on earth to test vehicles than on the tough and demanding roads of India,” said the newly-appointed distributor of Tata vehicles in Australia, Darren Bowler, of Fusion Automotive.Tata Motors — India’s largest automobile company — acquired Jaguar and Land Rover from the Ford Motor Company in June 2008, in the grip of the Global Financial Crisis. The acquisition gave Tata access to Jaguar and Land Rover designers and engineers but Tata is yet to release an all-new model with their input. The Tata Xenon ute was released in 2009 and is also sold in South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, the Middle East, Italy and Turkey.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

The bargain basement end of the ute market is set to be joined by a new cut-price competitor from India. The Tata brand is returning to Australia but the vehicle it is most famous for — the tiny Nano city runabout, at $2800 the cheapest car in the world — will not be among the models for sale.Tata is expected to relaunch with a new range of utes called the Xenon later this year before adding passenger cars next year. Prices and model details of the ute are not yet announced but the company said the range “will offer a greater level of value than what is currently available in the market”. The prices of Chinese utes start at $17,990.Tata vehicles have been sold on and off in Australia since 1996 after a Queensland distributor began importing them mainly for farm use. There are an estimated 2500 Tata heavy-duty pick-ups on Australian roads already. But there are many more Indian-made cars on Australian roads, albeit with foreign badges. More than 20,000 Indian-made Hyundai i20 hatchbacks and more than 14,000 Indian-made Suzuki Alto small cars have been sold in Australia since 2009.But other, Indian-branded vehicles have not been so successful. Australian sales of the Mahindra range of utes and SUVs have been so weak the distributor is yet to report them to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.The original Mahindra ute scored a poor two stars out of five in independent crash tests and was later upgraded to three stars following engineering changes. The Mahindra SUV launched with a four-star rating at a time when most vehicles are awarded five stars. There is as yet no star-rating for crash safety on the new Tata ute range.However, the new distributor for Tata vehicles in Australia believes the origin of the vehicles will be a competitive advantage. “There is no tougher place on earth to test vehicles than on the tough and demanding roads of India,” said the newly-appointed distributor of Tata vehicles in Australia, Darren Bowler, of Fusion Automotive.Tata Motors — India’s largest automobile company — acquired Jaguar and Land Rover from the Ford Motor Company in June 2008, in the grip of the Global Financial Crisis. The acquisition gave Tata access to Jaguar and Land Rover designers and engineers but Tata is yet to release an all-new model with their input. The Tata Xenon ute was released in 2009 and is also sold in South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, the Middle East, Italy and Turkey.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling