New variant of Tata is launched. Read to know more about it.
Tata Motors unveiled a pre-production concept of upcoming sub-4 metre ‘micro SUV’. The concept car made its public debut at Auto Expo 2020 in February this year, named as the HBX. The production-ready version of the car is expected to be internal codename, Hornbill, and is obviously delayed and is now expected to take place next year, which was first planned for a launch by the end of this year itself, 2020.
But, the company has not yet announced in-depth details of the upcoming model, however, the automaker has previously confirmed that the HBX is 90 percent close to the actual production car. There are some vital information of the car, you must take a look on these points:
Platform and Dimensions
The Tata HBX will be the brand’s smallest SUV from the home-grown automaker and will be based on ALFA (Agile, Light, Flexible, Advanced) platform which currently underpins the Tata Altroz. Also, the upcoming HBX concept is measured 3,840 mm in length, 1,822 mm in width, 1,635 mm in height, and equipped with a 2,450 mm long wheelbase. We tend to expect the production-ready version to be similar in size further.
The Tata HBX will be the second car from the company to be built on the new platform and employs the Impact Design 2.0 design philosophy, which means that it will sport a muscular front-end with a split headlamp setup. Moreover, the final production-ready version of the model retains the upright shape, though we expect some of the concept’s more extravagant details to be toned down.
Exterior
The vehicle might come equipped with faux skid plates on each ends, which can increase its rugged and SUV-ish appeal. At the rear of the production-ready HBX will likely to be tri-arrow design small LED tail lights, which were also seen on the car’s test mule and we think that its quite achievable considering the Altroz’s and Harrier’s ideas that were revealed before of their launches.
Visually, the upcoming SUV will come with the split headlamp setup, with the primary lights positioned below and the LED daytime running lights (DRLs) placed above it, closer to the front grille. The small SUV concept also came with floating vogue roof with roof rack, a sculpted tailgate and a faux skid plate. The car will offer best-in-class connectivity features integrated with the extremely capable infotainment system, the company said.
Interior
Tata HBX is expected to be spacious on the inside which come with exciting features like a 7.0-inch 'floating' touchscreen infotainment system will sit high on the dash, just like in the concept with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, a semi-digital instrument cluster, automatic climate control, cruise control as well as a Harman premium audio system. The final HBX will also carry over the flat-bottom steering wheel (with audio and telephone controls) just like the Tiago facelift.
Other features include square central AC vents, doors that open 90 degrees, to aid ingress and egress and also, space for three at the rear is also expected to be sufficient with the relatively flat floor.
Engine
The HBX is expected to draw power from the same BS6-compliant 1.2-litre three-cylinder Revotron petrol engine naturally the Altroz, Tiago and Tigor. The engine currently produces 86bhp of max power and develops 113 Nm of peak torque, while mated with a 5-speed manual transmission as standard, along with five-speed AMT optional automatic gearbox.
Expected Price and Rivals
Upon it's launch, Tata HBX is expected to be priced around Rs 4.5-7.5 lakh (ex-showroom), and the vehicle will go against the likes of other crossover-styled hatchbacks including the Maruti Suzuki Ignis, Mahindra KUV100 NXT, along with the petrol versions of the Ford Freestyle.
