[TusharK]

Taking a leaf out of Maruti Suzuki's books, Tata Motors has now launched 'XPRES' - a sub-brand for fleet customers.



The XPRES brand will cater to the specific needs of fleet operators by providing vehicles with a low cost of ownership. All vehicles will sport the XPRES badge to help differentiate them from Tata's 'New Forever' range.

The first model under the XPRES brand will be an electric sedan called the 'XPRES-T'. It will be launched in the near future.



The XPRES-T electric sedan will be available with two battery options - 21.5 kWh offering a range of 214 km and 16.5 kWh with a range of 165 km (ARAI certified range under test conditions). According to the company, the batteries can be recharged to 80% of their capacities in 90 minutes and 110 minutes respectively, using a fast charger.

The XPRES-T will come with a black interior with Electric Blue accents and will have features such as automatic climate control, ABS with EBD and dual airbags. The car will be equipped with a single-speed automatic transmission.

Link to Team-BHP News

[charanreddy]

Are these for real..

"XPRESS" and "New Forever" ! Why wouldn't your non fleet customers want low total cost of ownership. Also Nexa is projected as a completely different premium brand. Tata any way has a perception of being a fleet oriented manufacturer, infact so much so that the customers complain of cabbies like treatment in aftersales !

May be I am forming my opinion too soon, but I don't get it !!

[theAutomaniac]

Originally Posted by charanreddy

Are these for real..
Also Nexa is projected as a completely different premium brand.

I guess this is not the NEXA kind of thing! The XPRES strategy kinda sounds like Maruti's Tour range of vehicles!

Maruti uses alphabets like S, M, H2, H1 for fleet versions of their private cars with the Tour badging. The XPRES brand with alphabets used as suffixes is a nomenclature that sounds more similar to Tour vehicles rather than NEXA ones!

[swiftvxi06]

The XPRESS-T sedan looks like a base model (similar to XE Tigor) based on Tigor EV.

[TrackDay]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA38TIf4qng

Tata motors seems to be relentlessly spearheading the EV scene in India. But they have to be careful here as this is one quicksand pit that they managed to get out of only recently. Even a few years ago they had this 'Taxi/fleet' image and it took them an odyssey to get where they are today. This could be why they have introduced a separate branding for the same.

[Big Smoke]

This "XPRES" or any other fleet oriented initiative from Tata doesn't help Tata's image as long as they have the same logo.

They should've given a different logo to these taxi cars.

[123.rishabh]

As far as i remember, Tata Motors was the first manufacturer to introduce a fleet specific model The Indicab long back in 2001

[padmrajravi]

Originally Posted by TrackDay

Even a few years ago they had this 'Taxi/fleet' image and it took them an odyssey to get where they are today. This could be why they have introduced a separate branding for the same.

That's true. They worked so hard to get out of that image. But now that they have lost it, I think there is a bit of regret there. That segment contributed a significant amount to their bottom line and has now been captured by Suzuki and Hyundai. And more than TML's own effort to get rid of that image, I think it was the lack of quality control that eventually lead to them losing that image. Very few taxi owners will be willing to take a risk with a Tata car now since Suzuki and Hyundai offer safe bets in the same price range now.

I think this new brand is a bad idea. A name like Tigor with a suffix like prime or fleet is a better idea. At least it helps in growing the brand recall of the name Tigor.

[abhishek46]

There are quite a few 'Taxi' companies which are interested for purely EV 'fleet' operations.
For example, the 'Lithium' Taxis, the newly formed SainikPod etc.

This business model definitely makes sense, as it can cater to the specific requirements of EV Fleet operations.

[chittybang]

It make sense to cater the Tigor to the fleets. Its sales aren't setting the charts on fire anyways and I suspect that TATA like all others are focussed on the SUV craze. So there does not seem much of a future for the Tigor in its current form. Visually it still is one of the more proportionate in its segment but that segment is soon moving towards the fleet market. So, the move is a practical one.
Wish they had a more practical name too. Sometimes simple names makes more sense. Why not call it the T-cab or reintroduce the name Indica/ indicab as a brand for the fleet market. It does have recall value within that segment. Xpres is just so random.