Tata Motors began its journey in the Indian passenger vehicle market with the Tata Sierra way back in the early 90s. They followed with a series of utility vehicles which also included the gorgeous Safari which was applauded widely for its looks. Aria, their premium-most crossover failed miserably when the competition picked pace. They were thrown out of the game by Mahindra and others and the current state of affairs do not reveal a very happy reading for them.
To give you an example, Tata has sold a meagre 9801 utility vehicles in the domestic market in India since April 14 till February 15, in all! This, when compared with over a lakh units of Mahindra during the same time highlights what ground has Tata lost!
However, the Pune-based Auto major has some real aggressive plans in the utility vehicle segment. They, not only plan to revamp the Aria under a new brand name but have as many as 6-7 products in pipeline. So, here is the list…
- Tata Hexa:
- Expected Launch: Early 2016
- Expected Price: Rs 11-16 Lakhs
- Competitors: XUV500
Showcased at the recently concluded Geneva Motor Show, Hexa is powered by the 2.2 litre VARICOR engine 156.4 bhp of power and 400 Nm of torque. The 6 seater crossover (with captain seats in the middle), will be a replacement for the Aria (confirmation awaited). Hexa will be the first product launch, expected during the early months of next year.
- Nexon (X104):
- Expected Launch: Sometime in 2016
- Expected Price: Rs 6 to 9 Lakhs
- Competitors: EcoSport, XA-Alpha
Showcased at the Auto Expo last year, the compact SUV will be picking up a battle against the EcoSport and Maruti’s upcoming XA alpha based compact SUV. Expected to be powered by a version of the turbocharged Revotron family engine, the Nexon is expected to derive a lot of design ideas from the Evoque. Nexon or X104 is expected to be launched sometime next year.
- Q501 and Q502:
- Expected Launch: Sometime in 2017
- Expected Price: Rs 12 to 18 Lakhs
- Competitors: Rexton, XUV500
These two upcoming models are expected to be true-blue SUVs and share a lot of engineering prowess of the Land Rovers. According to the analysis we had done a few days back, both these are expected to be placed somewhere in the D1 SUV segment. While the Q501 is expected to be a 5 seater, the Q502 will be a 7 seater. Both the vehicles will be powered by a new 2.0 litre multijet diesel engine (from Fiat) according to recent reports.
- Next-Gen Sumo:
- Expected Launch: Sometime in 2018
- Expected Price: Rs 6 to 10 Lakhs
- Competitors: Bolero
Expected to be launched in late 2018, the next-gen Sumo will use a new platform called the Raptor which will neither be a ladder frame nor monocoque. Instead it will integrate the body into the frame, helping the vehicle lose some fat and gain on the fuel efficiency front.
- X602: According to an earlier report, the X602 is rumoured to be a 9 seater UV based on the X6 platform (we are not sure which platform is this!). Very little information is available at this point but if we have to speculate, then this may be a full size people carrier – an MPV.
- X107: X107 is reported to be a 7-seater MPV which will be based on the modified Vista platform. It is expected to be an Ertiga-Mobilio sized MPV and design cues are expected from Zest and Bolt.
Apart from this, Tata will launch the updated Safari Storme soon with a more powerful engine within a few months this year.
