The Fiat-source 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine had been doing duties on the Tata Harrier and Safari for a very long time
Tata Motors has bagged the licensing rights to futher develop and upgrade Fiat’s 2.0-litre diesel engine independently. Note that this is a huge occasion for the Indian auto giant. We have seen Tata Motors forced to offer its Harrier and Safari SUVs with the same engine and the same power and torque outputs for the longest time. That was a huge disadvantage for the brand, especially compared to its indigenous rival, Mahindra. We know that Mahindra offers its in-house developed 2.2-litre mHawk diesel mill in different states of tune for different models. Going forward, Tata will be able to do that as well.
Tata Motors Gets Rights To Calibrate Safari’s Diesel Engine
As per the latest report by Autocar India, Tata Motors has acquired the licensing rights from Stellantis to further develop and modify Fiat’s 2.0-litre Multijet diesel mill independently. Note that, prior to this, any tweak to the ECU of the engine would have cost a whopping 10 million Euros. Furthermore, the changes would need to be presented to and approved by Stellantis. Hence, Tata Motors was never able to bring different states of tune with this engine. That restricted its operations as it could only offer the vehicles with the same 170 PS and 350 Nm of peak power and torque, respectively.
All that is about to change. The new deal allows Tata Motors to calibrate and develop the engine as per its will without having to incur fees to Stellantis. Nevertheless, the Intellectual Property Rights still remain with Stellantis. Anyway, Tata Motors can now update this engine to meet the latest emission norms and other performance demands from the customers. It was mentioned in the report that the cost to develop a new engine from scratch would’ve been even more expensive. Hence, this licensing deal takes care of all the shortcomings Tata was facing.
My View
This is a monumental step in Tata Motors’ journey. In the last few years, the competition from Mahindra has been severe. Mahindra has developed the 2.2-litre mHawk diesel and 2.0-litre mStallion turbo petrol engine in-house. This lends it the flexibility to offer different versions of this engine, which will, in turn, allow it to cater to a wider range of potential customers. Let us see what kind of impact this development will have on Tata’s portfolio and how the consumers embrace it.
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