[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by julupani

...., 1.5L Common Rail Nissan engine...

Engine is developed by AL not Nissan.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Engine is developed by AL not Nissan.

Ok. But wasn't this something of a Leyland Nissan partnership product, or am I mistaken??

And if it is a partnership product, what have Nissan contibuted???

[ram_hyundai]

I had seen the product in TVM showroom.A slightly bigger one than ACE.Should sell in good numbers but availablity may be an issue.Nice interior quality compared to the competition.

ram

[KMohanan]

Originally Posted by ram_hyundai

I had seen the product in TVM showroom.A slightly bigger one than ACE.Should sell in good numbers but availablity may be an issue.Nice interior quality compared to the competition.

ram

Kindly give the dealership details where you have seen the vehicle so that I can join you to have a test drive .

[RenuKumar]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Engine is developed by AL not Nissan.

Engine is developed by Nissan, AL has tuned it and changed it to work in Indian conditions.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by RenuKumar

Engine is developed by Nissan, AL has tuned it and changed it to work in Indian conditions.

This engine is called as P15 and have developed internally by AL - You have the big L wheel embossed over the head, in similar line with H and N series engines.Henceforth this engine will be used to power AL branded LCV's ranging between 55hp to 90hp. When the products are branded *** Nissan they will come with Nissan/Renault made K9K engines.

[dnaturallywired]

The front reminisces of an old soviet ZIL truck

[julupani]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

This engine is called as P15 and have developed internally by AL - You have the big L wheel embossed over the head, in similar line with H and N series engines.Henceforth this engine will be used to power AL branded LCV's ranging between 55hp to 90hp. When the products are branded *** Nissan they will come with Nissan/Renault made K9K engines.

What kind of products will the partnership with Nissan churn out then??

Also the K9 engines are basically the same ones we get here in the Verito, Micra and in future most probably in the Sunny. They are 1.5L common rail units themselves. I dont see these powering anything more than a 3ton GVW vehicle. The Dost itself is a 2+ GVW model.

[DieselAddikt]

Originally Posted by KMohanan

Kindly give the dealership details where you have seen the vehicle so that I can join you to have a test drive .

There is one in Vyttila. A month back I had seen this vehicle in front of a showroom that was being built. Now I guess it would be open. It is on the left side after Vytilla junction while travelling towards Aroor. Cheers ! And do post your impressions if you manage a TD.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by julupani

What kind of products will the partnership with Nissan churn out then??

Also the K9 engines are basically the same ones we get here in the Verito, Micra and in future most probably in the Sunny. They are 1.5L common rail units themselves. I dont see these powering anything more than a 3ton GVW vehicle. The Dost itself is a 2+ GVW model.

For details kindly read the attachment of my post in previous page.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

For details kindly read the attachment of my post in previous page.

Thanks, thought that was only about the Dost's design philosophy.

By the way, the article clearly says that the Dost is a ALL-Nissan partnership product and its P15 engine is a Nissan engine that has been "localised".

It also says, that all the future LCV trucks and buses will be branded as Ashok Leyland only. Only the vans will be branded Nissan.

It seems, ALL-Nissan will operate in the LCV market, ie 2-7.5 ton GVW, while ALL themselves will concentrate on ICV, MCV and HCV markets. There don't seem to be any plans for the lower range of the SCV market, ie is the sub-1ton category where the bulk of the Ace family operates.

[directinjection]

Interesting development indeed! So Dost isn't a rebadged Nissan but an all-new product developed right here in India. That's not the route usually taken when an Indian auto company collaborates with an auto maker from a developed country.

I found this line in post no 1 interesting too:

Andy Palmer, Executive Vice-President of Nissan Motor Company, conceded that Nissan, a leader in LCV globally, couldn't have produced Dost on its own.

To compete with Dost, Tata would need to launch the Super Ace in India after suitably upgrading it to carry a little more load. They'd also need to introduce the CR4 engine instead of the IDI one at present. I fail to understand why they're still persisting with IDI tech when competitors are taking the CRDI route even in such low end products.

AL can also explore the possibility of developing 2 and 4 cylinder versions of P15 (for lower and higher payload versions of Dost) to keep logistics simple and costs lower.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by directinjection

To compete with Dost, Tata would need to launch the Super Ace in India after suitably upgrading it to carry a little more load. They'd also need to introduce the CR4 engine instead of the IDI one at present. I fail to understand why they're still persisting with IDI tech when competitors are taking the CRDI route even in such low end products.

The Dost is an ALL product, with a localised Nissan engine. An overall very good effort by Leyland indeed.

The Super Ace is already available in India, though still at 1ton payload capability only.

I think they are sticking to the good old IDI, so as to keep spares cheap, and keeping the ease of service factor in mind as well. Not to mention, sticking to IDI also means it will be cheaper than the common rail variant.

Though with more stringent emission norms, even Tata will have to shift to common rail. So they might as well do it now.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by julupani

The Dost is an ALL product, with a localised Nissan engine. An overall very good effort by Leyland indeed.

I'm happy to see AL take the longer and riskier route of designing and developing a product on its own (Tata style) instead of merely reproducing its foreign collaborator's pre-existing product, Maruti style.

Originally Posted by julupani

The Super Ace is already available in India, though still at 1ton payload capability only.

Wasn't aware of this development. Where has it been launched?

Originally Posted by julupani

I think they are sticking to the good old IDI, so as to keep spares cheap, and keeping the ease of service factor in mind as well. Not to mention, sticking to IDI also means it will be cheaper than the common rail variant.

Mahindra and AL could also have taken the IDI route for Maxximo & Dost for the reasons you cite but they chose not to which, in my opinion, is a good thing for our auto industry. Wonder why the Tata guys don't think that way and are persisting with IDI even in passenger oriented vehicles like the Venture. What good would smokey exhaust pipes do to the reputation of a company that feels proud to own JLR?

Originally Posted by julupani

Though with more stringent emission norms, even Tata will have to shift to common rail. So they might as well do it now.

Why should a company with Tata's reputation have to wait for compulsory law enforcement? Why should it follow others when it has traditionally been a market leader proud of its R&D capabilities.

[julupani]

Dont know specifically where all it has been launched. The Ace website now mentions both the Super Ace and the Ace Zip. And there is no specific mention of a limited launch.

And I have seen both the Super Ace and Ace Zip in my city.

Also, Tata dont have a tradition of limited launches. Also, I dont see any reason for limited launch, since there aren't any real components which require extensive training of service personnel.

As far as the CV segment goes, I think Tata's philosophy is to keep it as simple and cheap as possible while meeting the customer's demands. And it has worked very well for them in the CV segment.