Analysis: Tata’s Q501 & Q502 Premium SUVs: What Segment & Price?

Some new details about Tata’s ‘Premium SUVs’ including their codenames Q501 and Q502 emerged a few days back (here). However, so far it is not really understood how ‘Premium‘ these SUVs will be and what segment is Tata targeting with them.

I read that report yet again and what took my attention are the expected sales volume figures by the company. In the RFQ (Request for Quotation) to its suppliers, Tata has asked them to be prepared for about 50,000 units annually.

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Let me take that figure and decipher it further. 50,000 units a year corresponds to over 4000 units a month and if we distribute them equally, it comes out to a figure of around 2000 units for each of them – Q501 and Q502.

Now consider that the largest selling D2-segment SUV Fortuner sells about 1000-1500 units monthly and rest of the competition is way below. For reference, second comes Pajero Sports at sales of under 200 units, which is followed by Santa Fe with sales in single digits for the last couple of months and Rexton which has sold under 100 units every month for the last 6 months.

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This almost quashes the possibility of these two Premium SUVs being D2 segmenters even if we include exports. If we step back one segment, the XUV500 is the only SUV/Crossover in the D1 segment (Aria is as good as non-existent in terms of sales) and it does sell 2000 to 3000 in the local markets and is also exported to a few countries.

This almost confirms that Tata’s premium SUVs Q501 and Q502 will be placed in the D1 segment alongside the XUV500. This means we are talking about a price band which starts at about Rs 11-12 Lakhs and goes on till about 16 odd Lakhs on the ex-showroom prices. Tata may extend the bracket with its offerings to 18 lakhs or thereabouts.

So, if we believe that these SUVs will have a lot of Land Rover technological help, at these prices we can really expect them to be fantastic prospects….

Note: Safari Storme Ladakh Edition showcased for representational purposes only

Related: Tata Plans ‘Pelican’, a Rival for Alto

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