Tata Motors launches 10 low-priced trucks

India's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer Tata Motors on Thursday launched ten new truck models, under the 'Prima' brand, which have been stripped of some features to make them more affordable.

The Prima range of trucks were launched back in 2009 but found few takers as consumers were unwilling to pay more for the features and technology that the trucks offered. The company has now rejigged the products to take away some of the features like HVAC, ABS and other frills without tampering with the new powertrains.

The new range, Prima LX priced between ₹ 18.5-32.5 lakh, is around 20% cheaper than the conventional Prima range, and only costs 5-10% more than the other Tata Motors trucks.

"This range (Prima LX) will take us to high volume multiaxle truck segment, which constitute nearly 65% of the total trucks sold in the country," said Ravi Pisharody, executive director commercial vehicles, Tata Motors. "In 2011-12, the market for multiaxle trucks in India stood at around 200,000 units. The range has been priced just about 5% more than than our conventional trucks. With its advanced features, it is a great value for money to customers. We hope Prima LX should account for 10-15% of our sales in the next two-three years."

The domestic commercial vehicle industry has been reeling under its worst ever slowdown with sales falling for 24 straight months.

Total sales of commercial vehicles were down by 25.53% to 46,757 units in 2013 from 62,786 units in 2012.