OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2011. Tata Motors, today, launched the Tata Divo, a luxurious long-distance inter-city travel bus, and the Tata Starbus Ultra, a modern and practical offering for commuting within the city.

Commenting on the launches, Ravi Pisharody, president, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, said, “Tata Motors has always been at the forefront in revolutionising passenger transportation in the commercial vehicle segment. With the introduction of the Tata Divo and the Tata Starbus Ultra the company will more comprehensively address the burgeoning need of public transportation. These two buses are sure to migrate the world of passenger transportation to a completely new level of class and technology coupled with comfort and convenience.”

The brand-new luxury AC coach is meant for inter-city passenger transportation and tourist operations. The Tata Divo body design comes from Hispano Carrocera of Spain, a fully-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, providing a truly international standard ride to the long-distance traveller.

The sleek body and the luxurious interiors are a treat to the eye. Tata Divo offers customised interior features such as different seating layouts in semi-sleeper and seater configurations, wide seats with up to 135-degree recline with head flaps and armrests, generous saloon space with high roof, hat-racks with personalised controls for AC and reading lights, large luggage space, making it the ultimate luxurious coach. In addition, an entertainment system with DVD player and two LCD screens, on-board refrigerator, mobile charging points, destination board, and public address system, enhance the travel experience.

The BS 3 compliant Tata Divo’s drive-train is engineered by a 285HP, powerful Cummins engine, a breakthrough in terms of technology and reliability. The engine is mated to a six-speed overdrive gearbox for higher fuel efficiency, and there is a larger, 430mm diameter clutch for enhanced life, exceptional braking performance with a hydrodynamic retarder, and a superior independent front axle for better maneuverability. All this translates into superior performance.

Driver comfort has been taken to the next level, as the bus has a pneumatically suspended seat for more comfort, electronic accelerator pedal and precision gear shifting for minimising driver fatigue, and a new aesthetic dashboard and instrument cluster with on-board diagnostics. 

Tata Divo not only stands for world-class design, assured reliability and superior performance, but also scores high on safety. The hydrodynamic retarder ensures better safety and the exceptional aerodynamic drag coefficient increases vehicle stability.

Customers can personalise the Tata Divo by choosing a preferred colour scheme and styling options. The range will be available across all dealerships from January 2012 onwards.

The Tata Divo (BS 3 version) price range starts from Rs66 lakh, ex-showroom New Delhi. 

Tata Starbus Ultra opens up a whole new world of comfort and luxury for office-goers, hotel guests, tourists and schoolchildren. Meant primarily for intra-city transport, the luxury variant can also be used for inter-city travel.

The Tata Starbus Ultra is available in luxury, standard, school and deluxe variants. These are available in different seating configurations (22 – 46 seater), on different wheelbases, thereby providing the customer with a whole range to select from.

The Tata Starbus Ultra has an outstanding aerodynamic body design and aggregates which conform to the Bus Body Code. The Tata Starbus Ultra is the first bus in its category with the front door ahead of the front axle, resulting in more seats for the same length of bus and subsequently, better returns for the operator. The advanced parabolic suspension, wider aisle width and super comfortable seating ensure that commuters have a smooth and peaceful ride. 

The Tata Starbus Ultra is designed using the reliable Tata 497 engine along with a viscous fan (used for the first time in this class of buses), resulting in higher fuel efficiency and lowest NVH levels in its category. The six-speed gearbox with overdrive and cable shift mechanism ensures higher mileage, more speed selection options and a higher maximum speed, while also providing 30 per cent more life. The high-strength chassis and stronger rear axle enhance the life of the vehicle, while the wider tubeless radial tyres give a longer running life. The service interval has also been doubled for more on-road availability and to significantly reduce maintenance costs for the operators.

The wider track axle and lowest-in-class turning circle diameter help in vehicle stability and manoeuvrability for the driver. Tiltable and telescopic steering with a high-capacity power-steering pump, dashboard-mounted gear lever with car-like gear shifting reduce driver fatigue.

The luxury variant comes with engine-driven individual AC vents, for each passenger. The modular hat-rack is integrated with AC vents and reading lamps. Push-back seats with up to 135-degree recline with arm-rests and footrests make travel heavenly. The deluxe variant has hi-back reclining seats for extra comfort.  Rear and side luggage booths give ample space for storage. LCD screen fitment and CD/DVD player provision on request, completes the delightful experience. The school variant is equipped with 25 safety features along with all the comfort features for children.

Thus, the Tata Starbus Ultra stands for comfort, space, style and performance with superior economics. The range is available across all Tata Motors authorised dealerships. 

The Tata Starbus Ultra (BS 3 version) price range starts from Rs15 lakh, ex-showroom New Delhi.