Mr. Jatin Lakra's Interview Directly From Tata's Full Throttle Event

Tata Motors begins with it's Full Throttle activity in Rajasthan. We have already covered the event (please see the News section). For the same, we got a chance to speak to Mr Jatin Lakra, Marketing Head - Sumo & Grande. He shared a few thoughts on what Full Throttle is all about. Scroll down further to read our short interview with the man himself. 

When did Tata Motors Full Throttle come about? What is the purpose of this brand? Besides auto enthusiast, who are you targeting? What is your objective? Why has Tata Motors taken so long to come up with an initiative like this?

JL :Full Throttle was  started in Feburary 2011, as a platform for  steering the company's participation in motor sports and allied activities.The platform will also help the company in organising and synergising all the efforts and activities in the area of motor sports including development and testing. Besides auto enthusiast, we are also targeting our existing as well as prospective customers to half day trails on sunday across 21 cities to come and experience the capability of the Tata vehicles for serious off-roading. Well we may have been late but I would say It's never too late to begin.

What kind of technical changes have gone into making these vehicles off-road capable?

Jl : Well we have gone through very minimum changes in making these vehicles off road capable, some changes in suspension tuning and gadgetry changes in the top end models have been done.

What is the key technology used in Tata Motors' SUV?

JL :As I said earlier like some bare changes have been done .We have covered up the base and parts of the engine and gear box have been covered. Suspension has been tuned up to take the abuse of the off-roading and by off-roading, I mean harsh off-roading.

Tata Motors or Indian vehicles are known to be generally heavy in terms of feel and drive. Is light weighting of vehicles, of strategic importance to Tata Motors? What are the measures taken by Tata Motors to bring down the weight of its SUVs? What material has the chassis been made of (Aluminum / Steel)?

JL :  Earlier our chassis used to be steel based, but now for Aria we have hydroform chassis and same you will see in the upcoming Storme.

When will the Safari Storme be launched?

JL : Well, I won't be able to comment anything on it right now.

What is the future scope of growth for SUVs at Tata Motors especially with the launch of the Safari Storme SUV?

JL : Well we are very much optimistic about Storme and you will see the results once it hits the market.

Tell us, what is so special about the new Storme. How does the brand plan to take it to the audience, especially in this competitive segment?

JL : Their are many changes and you would see it once its launched. Well we have a separate marketing strategy for Storme and we hope to get a bigger market share with the launch of Storme.

What kind of audience are you targeting? How will the Storme be priced?

JL : We are looking at prospective SUV customers in India. I won't be able to comment anything on the price at this moment.