Tata Motors will launch a new crossover based on the Falcon range, says a report on Team-BHP. This piece of development comes in addition to the recent news about a Falcon hatchback as well as compact sedan to be unwrapped at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo.
Here’s a complete lowdown of the whole “Falcon” range that is making news at the moment :
- Falcon 4 – It is the upcoming hatchback and will come in both diesel and petrol versions. The 1.2 liter petrol which presently does duties in the Vista is the base for the new powerplant for the new hatchback. We had shared spyshots yesterday only; you can check them out here.
- Falcon 5 – It is the upcoming compact sedan which is touted to replace Manza and sit over the current Indigo eCS. It will share the 1.2 liter petrol being developed, but the power and output will be larger. The ‘Falcon 5′ will also have the current diesel powerplant derived from Manza, which produces around 90PS.
In addition to the above, we now have news about a crossover of the Falcon range. It appears that Tata is aiming for a complete overhaul of its portfolio with the Falcon range. The cars are under development at Tata’s European design centre. Though we can’t really comment about the looks of the upcoming car, let us hope that Tata does a good job of sculpting it.
The crossover will share its mechanicals with the Falcon 5 compact sedan. The options will thus include the 1.3 liter Fiat Multijet turbo diesel engine and a turbocharged version of the 1.2 liter XETA petrol engine. The Falcon crossover will come with a five speed manual gearbox and a front wheel drive. A less-than-4-meters length will help in ensuring lower prices.
The Falcon name is aimed to shrug off the older image attached to the Indica/Indigo brands. However, we have also noticed from the spy shots that the cars appear to be rebadged Indica Vistas! Nevertheless, Falcon is just the codename and we expect the final names could be different. The showcasing of these cars could be done in the 2014 Auto Expo, with launch probable in the next festive season.
The competition in the compact SUV/mini crossover is definitely cut-throat, and it won’t be easy for Tata Motors to stay alive in the face of inspired competitors like Ford EcoSport and Renault Duster. We should also not forget that there are many upcoming products like the Maruti-Suzuki XA-Alpha and Mahindra S101. Add to that, this Falcon crossover hints us at the Vista D90 Crossover that Tata showcased during D90s launch. (pictured here, credit: Autocar India)
Will Tata be able to withstand the fight? Or will it just wilt and wither away??
Also Read: Xclusive: Tata Aria Automatic (AT) Spied For The First Time Ever!
