Tata Nexon compact SUV’s official bookings to open on 11th September; Launch on 21st

Over the past few weeks, a few Tata dealers around the country have been accepting bookings for the Nexon, unofficially. From the 11th of September 2017 though, official bookings for this compact SUV will begin, and the vehicle will be launched on the 21st of this month.

The Nexon will take on the likes of the Maruti Vitara Brezza and the Ford Ecosport. In terms of design, the new Tata vehicle features sleek lines of a crossover rather than the butch lines of an SUV. It looks very fresh and trendy though. Among compact SUVs of India, the Nexon is the one that looks most car-like.

A sub-4 meter SUV, and Tata’s first-ever such vehicle, it’ll be offered with turbocharged petrol and diesel engines. While 6 speed manual gearboxes will be standard on both engines, an AMT option will be added after a few months. Tata’s already started testing the AMT variant.

The 1.2 liter-4 cylinder Revotron engine is the first turbocharged petrol engine that Tata has built and deployed on a mass market car. The engine makes 108 Bhp-170 Nm. The 4 cylinder diesel Revotorq engine is much bigger though, displacing 1.5 liters. It also makes much more torque – 260 Nm – while peak power is rated at 109 Bhp.

The Nexon gets multiple driving modes, a feature that is generally available only on higher-end cars. The driver of this compact SUV will be able to switch between Eco, City and Sport modes at the turn of a knob. These modes are meant to vary throttle response.

The Nexon will be a five seater, and features a hefty ground clearance of 209 mm. Driver and passenger airbags, and ABS+EBD will be standard safety features across all variants. The Nexon will be built at the Fiat Ranjangaon factory. It’s likely to be priced sharply, undercutting both the Brezza and Ecosport.