Tata Motors brought back the Safari this year as their flagship SUV. The manufacturer has rolled out the 10,000th Safari from its manufacturing plant located in Pune. Because of the lockdown, only 100 units of the Safari were produced in February 2021. However, in only 4 months the homegrown manufacturer was able to produce 9,900 units.
The Safari is one of the best selling SUVs in the segment. It has a market share of 25.2 percent in its segment. When we combine the sales of the Safari and the Harrier, they are able to gather a market share of 41.2 percent. The Safari itself is based on the Harrier. Both the SUVs share many mechanical parts.
Mr. Shailesh Chandra, President – Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors said on 10,000th Safari rolling out, “We are thrilled to have reached this significant milestone for the new Safari in a span of four months. Not to mention, we have achieved this landmark during one of the toughest periods our country has endured in its long history. The 10000th feat validates the collective hard work put in by various teams responsible for the rebirth of this illustrious model. The Safari in its new avatar takes forward the brand’s rich legacy by combining Tata Motors’ Impact 2.0 design language with the proven capability of OMEGARC, the architecture derived from Land Rover’s renowned D8 platform – the gold standard among SUVs worldwide. This iconic brand is already leading the segment and we are delighted with our customers’ response. We thank our customers for their continued trust in the brand. We will continue to keep our New Forever range refreshed catering to the ever-evolving needs of our customers.”
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Engine and transmission
The Safari is offered only with one engine option.. It is a 2.0-litre Kyrotec diesel engine sourced from Fiat. The engine is also doing duty on the MG Hector, Hector Plus and the Tata Harrier. The engine produces 170 PS of max power and a peak torque output of 350 Nm. You can get the engine with a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox.
Price and variants
The Safari starts at Rs. 14.99 lakhs ex-showroom for the base variant while the top-end variant costs Rs. 21.61 lakhs ex-showroom. The Safari is offered in six variants, namely XE, XM, XT, XT+, XZ, and XZ+.
Adventure Persona Edition
There is also a Persona Edition of the Safari which gets blacked-out chrome bits. The exterior is finished in a unique Tropical Mist colour and the alloy wheels are also finished in Charcoal Grey colour. The interior is finished in Earthy Brown colour. The Adventure Persona Edition starts at Rs. 20.56 lakhs ex-showroom and goes up to Rs. 21.81 lakhs ex-showroom.
Competitors
The Safari goes against other 7-seater SUVs like the Mahindra XUV 500, Hyundai Alcazar and MG Hector Plus. It will also go against the upcoming Mahindra XUV 700 as we know that the XUV 500 would be discontinued.
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