The Tata Xenon is one such vehicle, which is on a never ending test. Hit Dehu road anytime and you are bound to find a Xenon with test plates and ‘On Test’ badges. But why is Tata Motors spending day-in and day-out testing the Xenon, when it hardly sells in India. The primary reason why Tata Motors wants to ensure the highest reliability on the Xenon is that its an export product. The Indian market doesn’t really have many pick-up truck buyers while in Europe and South Africa the demand for such a vehicle is quite high. This is the market Tata Motors is looking to dominate.
Now MotorBeam reader Yogesh Dhomade spotted the Xenon on the old Mumbai-Pune highway recently. In order to ensure the vehicle performs well with weight, Tata Motors has put in some jerry cans in the loading bay. We really can’t guess what is under the hood but we assume the 2.2-litre DICOR unit to do duty. This diesel engine produces 140 BHP of power and 320 Nm of torque. Tata Motors might consider using the Aria’s engine on the Xenon as its quieter and has better NVH. The Aria has the same 2.2-litre diesel engine doing duty underneath but with a new flywheel, revised mounts and oil sump.
The 5-seater Tata Xenon comes in both 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive variants. The Xenon EX 4×2 is priced at Rs. 10.48 lakhs, while the Xenon EX 4×4 is priced at Rs. 11.70 lakhs (all prices on-road, Mumbai). The vehicle has no real direct competition but the pick-up segment itself has too little volumes to justify additional marketing of the Xenon in India. The Xenon has been on sale for three years now and could help Tata Motors bring volumes in overseas markets.
