Tata Xenon bakkie to make its SA comeback before year-end

Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles plans to reintroduce its range of Super Ace and Xenon bakkies before the year ends.

This was confirmed by CEO Harneet Luther in an interview with TimesLIVE Motoring at the manufacturer’s Rosslyn facility for truck assembly.

Harneet Luther, CEO of Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles SA. (Tata)

While Tata’s passenger vehicles are under the distributorship of the Motus group, the pick-up models will fall under the firm’s commercial vehicles business, which is part of Tata Africa Holdings. Previously both Tata passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were marketed by Accordian Investments.

Luther noted the sales performance of workhorse-oriented bakkies from Indian rivals Mahindra, saying that there is opportunity for Tata to enjoy similar growth.

He said the Xenon range would comprise workhorse and leisure grades but could not speculate on pricing.

Xenon's rudimentary interior designed primarily for workhorse application. (Tata)

“There are various factors such as freight and exchange rates but we always believe one element of the lifecycle cost is cost of acquisition — it will be competitively priced,” he said.

The brand has ambitious targets for 2026 and the expansion of products in the light commercial vehicles market will be a key driver of sales, he said.

Tata’s volumes rank towards the bottom of the commercial vehicles sales rankings. According to figures from automotive business council Naamsa, it sold 41 units last month and 49 vehicles in February. That places it in the company of fellow Indian player VE Commercial Vehicles (Eicher), Chinese brand Shacman and Italy’s Iveco.

In March the top five sales performers were:

FAW Trucks (621);
Toyota (394);
Isuzu (371);
Daimler Truck (273); and
Volvo (251).

Power comes from a 2.2l turbocharged-diesel unit, linked to five-speed manual. (Tata)

Luther said the company is growing but slow economic movement has affected its growth trajectory.

Earlier this year the Rosslyn assembly plant, which assembles models in semi-knocked-down (SKD) form, achieved a production milestone of 12,000 units. It was established in 2011 and has an annual capacity of 2,200 vehicles.

Luther said while Japanese commercial players have been in the South African market longer, Tata has been here “long enough” to have earned a reputation for durability, low lifecycle cost and ease of maintenance. Tata’s local activities date back to 1997.

SKD assembly of passenger vehicles is the subject of criticism by heads of full-scale auto manufacturers because the level of localisation is not on the same level of completely-knocked-down (CKD) manufacturing.

The view is different when it comes to medium, heavy and extra heavy truck segments, however, credited as providing a “meaningful contribution to our economy” by executives such as Andrew Kirby, Toyota SA CEO and vice-president of Naamsa.

One of the last editions of the Xenon was the 2016 Evolve. (Tata)

Tata’s Rosslyn plant has 66 staff but according to Luther the indirect employment impact across the supply chain tallies more than 700.

“The commercial vehicle market in South Africa is close to 25,000 units, medium, heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicles, or 30,000 if you include vehicles such as panel vans that are included because of payload and gross vehicle mass (GVM),” he said.

Of the 22 commercial vehicle players in the country, most are involved in assembly, he said.

“The volumes range from some selling 300 units a year to 1,000 units or 3,500 units a year. This is low and full-scale CKD would not make economic sense.”

A technician assembles a Tata truck at the brand's Rosslyn facility. (Hymie Sokupha 076 509 4172)

The Rosslyn plant assembles 11 different products, including:

the LPT 813 four-tonne truck;
the Prima 2528 6x4 tipper chassis;
1623 nine-tonne truck; and
the Daewoo range of truck tractors.

Tata Daewoo is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors globally.

The LPT 813 and LPT 1518 medium trucks remain its best sellers, said Luther. The former vehicle is especially popular in the towing and recovery business, with the company claiming to have a market penetration of 60%.

“It is a rugged truck, with good power, is easy to maintain and long-lasting. For customers in the application of distribution, where greater comfort is required, we have the Ultra range.”

In 2025 the new Ultra additions comprised T.9 and T.14 variants, their respective numbers denoting GVM.

The 12,000th unit to roll off the line. (Tata)

“To support these we will introduce the T.7 and T.12 which are in the process of homologation and expected to go on sale by June.

“Later in the year we will extend a range of Prima products, expanding on what we have in the tipper segment. That will be another 6x4 freight carrier.”

Tata customers typically see the full value of a Tata product as its lifecycle cost is realised after five years, he said.

He cited local development as one of Tata’s competitive advantages.

“Before we launch a product, even if it has been tested across Indian geographies, we test the product in South Africa across various duty cycles to replicate customer usage — and a little abuse.”

“After that rigorous testing cycle, we go for the kits as a pilot lot, assembling, homologating and then doing the commercial launch.”