Last-mile delivery solutions are gaining quick traction as the segment moves towards becoming an organised sector. The ecosystem that supports last-mile vehicles, including local mechanics, spare part availability and the ability of the customers to maintain vehicles themselves, requires OEMs to constantly work with technology and simplifying them in order to make them more user-friendly. Tata Motors is working more towards enhancing the fuel efficiency and improve comfort of the last-mile delivery vehicles. This includes enhancements in rated payload of the vehicles as infrastructure development brings in more challenges.
Vinay Pathak, Business Head – SCV&PU, Tata Motors threw some light on the matter of last-mile delivery as the company introduced a trio of new vehicles – the Intra V70, Intra V20 Gold, and Ace HT+ in the Small Commercial Vehicles category.
As vehicles progress with the addition of more electronics, they have become more complicated. The addition of software and sensors in vehicles makes them more complex. The simplicity of mechanical vehicles has now gone. Therefore it becomes imperative for OEMs to support their customers. The service aspect of last-mile vehicles has to be improved, right down to the training of the local mechanics as well. This greatly supports customers and drivers with higher uptimes. The new range of Tata Motors small commercial vehicles has been designed keeping user feedback as a prime input. Bi-fuel has been particularly doing well as customers are able to maximise their range of deliveries.
The only concern intercity operators are facing is crossing tolls, as the charges depend on the shape of the vehicles. Customers have requested the payload capacity to be increased for these small commercial vehicles. Tata Motors had to work on the 1.2 tonne range because of this key feedback, while also increasing the comfort and drivability aspect. The company also invites a few customers of their products in the development phase for feedback. This inclusion greatly helps engineers in adding more features and abilities as required by actual users of the product.
Confusing Sales Numbers
When it comes to numbers, Pathak mentioned that since the sales in the last-mile delivery space is driven by consumption. As India is going through a K-shaped recovery for consumption, the demand for higher priced products is rising, while it’s not picking up at the other end. This means the larger vehicles sales are going up, while the smaller vehicle demand is not picking up. He is positive that the industry will pick up soon as demand and per-capita income rises at the lower end of the consumption spectrum after 2023.
Pathak also stated “As the transition shifted BS6 and BS6 Phase-II, the price of used BS4 vehicles also increased. This is because earlier vehicles were simpler than the newer BS6 and BS6 Phase-II vehicles in terms of maintenance. However, slowly the advantages of fuel-efficiency and newer features is making the customers more comfortable. This has now resulted in the dropping price of the used BS4 era vehicles while the demand picks up for the newer vehicles”. This implies the replacement demand will soon start picking up in the coming six-months.
Benefits Of Connected Features
Tata Motors Fleet Edge connected system for fleet operators has been gaining positive response. The company has confirmed that most customers are utilising the advantages of the Fleet Edge platform to maximise the utilisation of the asset. The data from the platform is gives the utilisation pattern of the vehicles, which enables fleet owners to enhance efficiency of usage. Larger fleet operators are able to monitor their vehicles and respond in case of any distress a driver may be in. Tata Motors has more than 60,000 vehicles running the Fleet Edge platform on the small commercial vehicles. Customers of the software are preferring the data insights being produced by the platform, and are using it extensively.
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Tata Motors Launches Small Commercial Vehicles With New Intra V70, Intra V20 Gold, and Ace HT+