Tata Motors has steadily been gaining sales volumes in India, and the Harrier SUV is also enjoying a decent demand in our market
Tata Motors has been enjoying a lot of success in India lately. The homegrown brand has managed to post positive YoY growth consistently for the last few months. The company’s current flagship vehicle, the Harrier, has also registered an increase in customer demand lately. During September 2020, the Harrier managed to post a sales figure of 1755 units.
During the same period last year, i.e., September 2019, Tata Motors recorded a sales figure of only 941 units for the Harrier. Compared to that, the sales have gone up by 86.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis. On a month-on-month basis, the SUV has recorded a marginal sales growth of 3.6 per cent, with 1,694 units sold in August 2020. One reason for the increase in sales could be the availability of an automatic variant.
Last year, Tata Harrier was only available with a 6-speed manual gearbox, which was a strong handicap for the vehicle. With the BS6 upgrade earlier this year, a 6-speed automatic transmission was also added to the mix. Automatic transmissions are becoming increasingly popular these days, especially among urban buyers.
The 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine was also tweaked to generate more power (170 PS compared to 140 PS before), although the torque output is the same (350 Nm). Not only that, but the manufacturer has also added a host of new features to the Harrier, including an electrically-operated panoramic sunroof.
The new gearbox option, more powerful engine, better features and equipment, are all potential reasons for the increased popularity of the SUV. Tata Motors is also developing a petrol-engine for the Harrier, which will help make the Harrier even more affordable. The popularity of petrol vehicles has also been rising in the BS6-era, so this seems like a smart choice.
The company will also be launching the Gravitas soon, which is the 7-seater version of the Harrier. It will be powered by the same 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine as the latter, and will be priced at a slight premium over it. The upcoming SUV will compete against the MG Hector Plus and the next-generation Mahindra XUV500.