Tata Motors will introduce a heavily overhauled SUV line-up in the Indian market starting this festive season. The brand will introduce as many as six new and updated products in the second half of the ongoing financial year.
In a post-Q1 earnings call, PB Balaji, Group CFO at Tata Motors, said, "From now onwards, the launch cycle is kicking in and we will be going full blast with a series of new launches. We have further ammunition to grow. We will start batting now and we are quite confident."
- Punch CNG launch by early August; EV to join later
- Harrier, Safari and Nexon facelifts incoming
- Tata Motors to invest close to a billion dollars in FY24
Six product launches from Tata Motors: what are they?
Starting the proceedings will be the Punch CNG, which was showcased earlier this year at Auto Expo 2023. The CNG-powered Punch will likely go on sale in the first week of August and will be aimed squarely at its recently introduced arch rival, the Hyundai Exter CNG. The CNG powertrain option on the Punch is expected to be offered on almost all variants and it will come with Tata Motors' new twin-CNG cylinder set-up, which liberates more cargo space than conventional CNG vehicles.
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The popular Harrier and Safari SUVs are also in line to get a mid-lifecycle update and production of the updated models could start sometime in September 2023. Both SUVs will sport refreshed front and rear ends, new alloy wheel designs and a few other exterior styling tweaks. Meanwhile, the interior will also be spruced up, there will be a larger touchscreen infotainment system and a full digital instrument cluster is also likely. There will be some changes to the gear lever design and a few other cosmetic updates that will help the SUVs compete against their rivals.
Tata Motors' bread-and-butter product in the SUV line-up, theNexon, will also undergo a major update. Similar to the Harrier and Safari facelifts, the Nexon will major styling tweaks that will have cues from theCurvv SUV conceptshown at the Auto Expo. On the inside, the cabin will get more upmarket touches – expect anew infotainment system, newswitchgearas well as an all-newsteering wheel.Tata Motors will introduce the facelift of the petrol, diesel andEVversions of the Nexon around the same time. The EV, according to our sources, could get a slightly different front end in order to set it apart from its ICE-powered counterpart.
Apart from the model updates mentioned above, Tata Motors will also introduce the Punch EV. The electric model will share most of its body panels with the standard Punch, though it could have a unique alloy wheel design and certain styling tweaks. On the inside, it will have similar switchgear as the Nexon facelift and could even get features like a 360-degree camera. The Punch EV is likely to use Tata Motors’ Ziptron powertrain that has a liquid-cooled battery with a permanent magnet synchronous motor powering the front wheels. However, the exact specifications of the battery and electric motor are not known yet.
Also See: Toyota lines up two MPVs, one SUV for India launch this year
Tata Motors to invest close to a billion dollars in FY24
Tata Motors will be investing around Rs 8,000 crore in FY24 – its highest-ever annual investment – to sustain the growth momentum in passenger vehicles and seize back lost share in a highly competitive commercial vehicle market. The new product launches mentioned above will help accelerate momentum in the car business, said a top company official.
Balaji said the investment of Rs 8,000 crore will be in products and technologies, a large part of which was showcased at the Auto Expo, and the company will focus on executing the plans to sustain the growth momentum. The company will be additionally investing Rs 30,000 crore in the JLR business as committed earlier for FY24.
With inputs from Shruti Mishra - Autocar Professional
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