TAC Motors, the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, has started delivering the first 25 units of its Stark compact utility vehicle.
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Produced in the city of Joinville, home to a large community of German origin, and traditionally industrial, the vehicle is the result of a 2004 design.
Key executives cautiously spent two years analysing what went wrong with other small automakers, not only in Brazil, before giving their venture the green light.
Troller, a Brazilian manufacturer of compact 4×4 utilities, was an example. It was absorbed by Ford in 2007 and saved only because it operated in a region where fiscal incentives were available.
The Stark (strong in German) carries four passengers but luggage room is minimal. The body is made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic composite.
Initial plans were for a 1.8-litre, flexible-fuel (petrol-ethanol) 1.8-litre VW engine but research showed diesel would be preferable and FPT offered TAC the smallest engine it makes here, a 2.3-litre, 125bhp unit developing 221 lb·ft of torque to propel the little vehicle weighing 3,657lbs. The 4×4 drive has a high-low transfer case and rear differential locking.
Mathematical models, virtual analysis of prototypes and finite elements for dimensioning structurally ctitcial components were used.
Independent suspension with long travel (6.3in front, 7.1in rear) assures good off-road performance and reasonable ride comfort.
TAC — short for Tecnologia Automotiva Catarinense — aims to grow slowly but surely and is targeting 220 units monthly by 2012.
