Indian carmaker Tata Motors is all set to launch the Harrier SUV in January 2019. As of now, Tata Motors has not officially opened bookings for the Harrier but reports emerged earlier today that a dealership had accepted a single booking for the upcoming Tata SUV for Rs 50,000. However, now Autocar India is reporting that Tata Motors has made a statement in which the carmaker has stated that the dealer was compelled to take the deposit and that dealer had been instructed to refund the amount and cancel the booking. In this post, we tell you the reason behind why Tata made this extraordinary statement today.
Earlier today reports had emerged along with images of an invoice showing that a dealership had accepted a booking for the much-hyped Tata Harrier SUV despite official bookings not being announced. In a statement to Autocar India, Tata Motors claimed that the dealer had been compelled by the customer to take a booking. The statement reads, “We have learnt of this incident. The dealer was compelled to take the booking due to the customer insisting on the same, to be among the first owners of the Tata Harrier. We will publicise widely when we officially open bookings for the Harrier.” The statement continues stating that Tata had directed the dealership to return the entire booking deposit of Rs 50,000 back to the customer.
The Tata Harrier was previewed at the Auto Expo 2018, earlier this year in the form of the H5X concept SUV. The production-spec Harrier SUV will be launched in January and it will be Tata’s answer to the Hyundai Creta.
In terms of design, the new Harrier looks more or less like the concept car, though the final design is expected to be more squared off to give it a more butch look compared to the concept car. The concept H5X was one of two vehicles that previewed Tata’s Impact Design 2.0 philosophy.
The latest images of the Harrier test SUVs in the wild have confirmed that the Harrier will retain the H5X’s pod-style housing for the lighting fixtures like the headlamp on the bumper. The Harrier is also expected to borrow its grille design from the Nexon SUV which will be flanked by the LED DRLs on either side.
Under the body, the Tata Harrier is based on Tata’s all-new OMEGA platform. The new OMEGA architecture is derived from the LR-MS platform that underpins the Land Rover Discovery Sport SUV and was developed with help from Tata’s British subsidiary Land Rover.
Sitting under the hood of the Tata Harrier will be a brand new engine, at least for Tata fans. The new 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine can be found under the bonnet of the Jeep Compass and is good for 171 Bhp at 3,750 rpm and 350 Nm @ 1,750 rpm. However, in the Harrier, this 2.0-litre multijet diesel is expected to be in a different state of tune and will come paired with a 6-speed automatic gearbox borrowed from Hyundai, that is also seen on the Creta.
The new Tata Harrier will compete with the likes of the Hyundai Creta and the Renault Captur when it arrives in January 2019 and will also face competition from upcoming SUVs like the Mahindra S201, Nissan Kicks and the Honda HR-V among others.