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Tata Upgrades To Megapixels At 2012 Geneva Motor Show

We can picture the scene: Tata boss Ratan Tata running back to his engineers after revealing the Pixel concept in Geneva last year, shouting, “You fools! Everyone was raving about megapixels, start again!”

Now, at the 2012 Geneva Motor Sh


We can picture the scene: Tata boss Ratan Tata running back to his engineers after revealing the Pixel concept in Geneva last year, shouting, "You fools! Everyone was raving about megapixels, start again!"

Now, at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, here's the result: the imaginatively named Tata Megapixel. 

Predictably, Tata's new concept is larger than last year's Pixel, living up to its Mega moniker by throwing in a pair of back doors and stretching the whole package by nearly half a metre in the process.

The new configuration does away with the Pixel's scissor doors, replacing them with swing arms that push the doors out and away from the body.

Ensuring optimum accessibility, the Megapixel does away with the body B-pillar, integrating them instead into the window frames.

As with the likes of Holden's upcoming Volt and the Infiniti Emerg-E, the Megapixel combines electric motors with a 0.3 litre one-cylinder petrol motor, with the latter feeding power to a generator whenever the car's battery pack needs more juice. 

There are four in-wheel motors providing motivation, each delivering a lowly 10kW of power. Tata promises a driving range of around 900 kilometres from a full charge and a single tank of fuel.

"The Tata Megapixel, developed by our design centres in India, the UK and Italy, is our idea of a city car for discerning motorists in any megacity of the world," Tata Managing Director Prakash M Telang said.

"It is a result of the progress we have made on the Tata Pixel, displayed last year, and also denotes the company's future design direction."

So is this the future for Tata?

Telang's comments aside, the Indian carmaker has proven, through its Pixel, Pr1ma, eMo and Megapixel concepts that it can imagine cars more handsome and inventive than its bargain-basement "people's car" Nano

With the likes of Jaguar and Land Rover now under its umbrella, it's fair to say the company now has the smarts to deliver a competitive production car to the global market.

As one of the biggest companies in India's exploding economy, it's certainly got the cash. 

Yes, we suspect Tata, and its compatriot Mahindra, will follow the once-lowly Korean carmakers in becoming a genuine force in the global car market.

 

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