Tata Motors has made a roaring start at the Auto Expo 2020 on Wednesday, and the company has showcased a slew of models that will be made available to the consumers in the coming months. The Harrier automatic is finally here, and the company has confirmed the new variant of the SUV with BS6 engine will start selling from Rs 16.25 lakh (ex-showroom) .
The Tata Harrier is built on the D8 platform borrowed from Jaguar Land Rover, and called the Omega-arch platform. It is similar to what underpins the Discover Sport.
We test drove the Harrier in early December 2018 and were impressed with the way it handles all sorts of terrain. Of course, we were a bit disappointed with the lack of an automatic transmission option and no four-wheel drive but we're glad Tata is finally offering one for the buyers.
The Harrier is a five-seater, and a pretty spacious one at that. It gets a black and oakwood brown interior theme, with faux wood panelling on the dashboard that looks quite classy. Fit and finish overall is good, although there are a few rough edges to be ironed out in these pre-production cars.
The new variant gets host of features like panoramic sunroof, 6-way powered driver seat and dual-tone diamond-cut alloy wheels among others.
The Harrier is powered by a Fiat-sourced 2-litre 'Kryotec' diesel engine, similar to the one in the Jeep Compass. It's been tuned differently though and Tata says the new Harrier will put out 170PS of power. It comes with a six-speed manual transmission only, and offered as a 4x2 model.
Next up was the big unveil of the H2X concept, which is now called the HBX. The company confirmed this compact SUV is production-ready and will be rolled out in the Indian market later this year.
The HBX made its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show in 2019 where it was the showstopper for the car maker. Reports claim this a micro-SUV based on the same Alfa platform as the 45X, but borrows a lot of styling from the Tata Harrier.
Tata was pointed out the HBx will sit below the Nexon SUV and most likely compete with the likes of Hyundai Venue. The company also confirmed that it won’t be called the Hornbill. So, we’ll have to wait for sometime before getting more details about this upcoming SUV.
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