Tata Harrier official teaser video released: Shows SUV being tested for durability

Tata Motors is leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the Harrier is a well engineered SUV. The Indian automaker has just released a new teaser video that shows the Harrier being put through the paces on a cobblestoned track that’s typically used by automakers globally for endurance/durability testing. In the video, Tata Motors also notes that the Harrier SUV has been put through 2.2 million kilometers of testing ‘through the toughest of terrains’. The teaser video also announces that the Harrier will be launched in early 2019. The production version of the SUV is expected to be unveiled by the end of this year though. Meanwhile, watch the teaser video below.

The Harrier will be the first Tata car to be based on the OMEGA platform. OMEGA, which expands into Optimal Modular Efficient Global Architecture, is an Indianized version of the Land Rover LS550 platform. It will underpin a range of future Tata SUVs including the Harrier, and its seven seat sibling that will follow – the H7X.

Aluminium bits on the OMEGA platform have been replaced with high tensile steel bits to push down cost and make the platform affordable enough for the mass market. However, the many good bits of the platform, such as top drawer suspension design, chassis rigidness, steering response and other key attributes have been retained to give OMEGA platform underpinned vehicles best-in-class performance.

The Tata Harrier that will be launched early next year will be the flagship vehicle from Tata Motors, which means  that it will be priced and positioned above the Hexa. We expect the starting price to be pegged at about Rs. 13  lakhs, which will make the Harrier much cheaper than the Jeep Compass and similarly priced to the Hyundai Creta.

As for mechanicals, the Tata Harrier will be powered by a 2 liter Fiat Multijet turbocharged diesel engine with 140  Bhp and 320 Nm on tap. A 6 speed manual gearbox will drive the front wheels of most variants although Tata will also offer an all wheel drive layout with the diesel engine. A 6 speed torque converter automatic gearbox sourced from Hyundai will also be offered with this engine. The Harrier will be a five seat SUV.