DRB-Hicom Commercial Vehicles Sdn Bhd (DHCV), the official distributor of Tata Motors commercial vehicles in Malaysia, has allocated RM10 million to set up a local assembly plant in Pekan, Pahang.
“We’ve received the approval from Tata Motors and are now in the process of creating a production network.
We believe production will begin in the third quarter this year,” said DRB-Hicom Bhd chief executive officer of automotive distribution, defence and manufacturing and engineering Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah after the launching ceremony of the Tata Super Ace and the Ultra range of trucks.
The mini and light trucks will join the Xenon pick-up trucks and the Prima prime movers to be locallyassembled in Pekan, later this year.
“The plan for local-assembly is important as we believe that the light commercial vehicle market will see increased growth in the years to come,” said Harith.
The Super Ace isaone-tonne mini truck that is powered bya1.4-litre turbodiesel engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission. It produces 70hp at 4,500rpm and 135 Nm oftorque at 2,500rpm.
It can be customised for small-scale business operations, such as transportation of construction items, food grains, fruits, fast-moving consumer goods and white goods, as well as food truck, icecream truck or even a mobile store.
As for the Ultra 814 and Ultra 1014, both models comes with a 3.0-litre turbodiesel engine paired to a six-speed manual transmission.
Power output is 140hp at 2,600rpm and 390 Nm of torque from 1,400 to 2,000rpm. The Ultra 814 has a 4.5 tonne of payload, while the Ultra 1014 is 5.5 tonnes.
The Super Ace is priced at RM46,990, while the eight-tonne Ultra 814 is retailed at RM86,990.
Meanwhile, the 10-tonne Ultra 1014 carries a price tag of RM97,990.
All prices are excluding Goods and Services Tax and on-the-road cost.
All models can be customised with different body options to suit customers needs.