Riding on the success of its entry level hatch and sub 4m sedan Tiago and Tigor respectively, Tata had recently launched its SUV Tata Hexa which had some positive reviews especially for its build quality and the value for money proposition. And now, Tata is also readying its sub 4m compact SUV Tata Nexon the exclusive spy pics of which were shared earlier by us.
The sub 4m SUV segment is one of the fastest growing segments in India which had been started by the introduction of Ford Ecosport in the country. The SUV from Ford was recently dethroned from its place by the introduction of Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Tata too wants to taste a slice of the sub 4m pie.
The Tata Nexon will be based on the company’s impact design language which has been carried successfully by the company’s earlier launches and is expected to be feature rich to take the fight to the competition.
Coming to the interiors, Tata Nexon will feature a new touchscreen infotainment system with support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the first Tata car to do so. The infotainment system will feature bluetooth, handsfree telephone but the major highlight is supposed to be 6.5-inch heads up display on the dashboard much in line with the one seen in the Audi Q3.
In addition to these, Tata Nexon is also expected to feature different features which help the driver alter the driving characteristics of the vehicle. While Tata Hexa too has got different driving modes, Tata Nexon is expected to get a dedicated rotary knob through which the driver can select three distinct driving modes Eco, City and Sport. While the Eco and City mode should be more focussed towards fuel economy, the Sport mode should help the driver unleash all of the 260 Nm of pulling power produced by the newly developed 1.5 litre turbo diesel from Tata.
The SUV will be powered using a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol Revotron motor, tuned to produce 108 bhp at 5000 rpm and 170 Nm of peak torque while the diesel churns out 108 bhp at 3750 rpm and 260 Nm of torque between 1500-2750 rpm. Both the engines are to be mated a 6-speed manual gearbox. In fact, Tata might even put this turbocharged petrol inside the Tiago/Tigor twins at a later date to come up with a red hot version of the hatch/sedan as the engine is essentially the same one found inside them with the addition of a turbo.
When launched, the Tata Nexon should undercut its rivals with its pricing and with an impressive performance and feature list it sure should take the fight directly to its competition.
[Source: NDTV Auto]