After its success with the 5-seater Harrier SUV in the Indian market, Tata Motors is now planning to introduce the larger 7-seater version of the SUV which was revealed at the 15th edition of the Auto Expo in Delhi earlier this year. Tata also revealed that the new 7-seater SUV will be christened Gravitas in the Indian market and though the larger iteration of the Harrier does get the similar design language the SUV also comes with its own unique features.
The Tata Gravitas which was recently spied sans camouflaged in the Indian market has also been spotted in Italy under light camouflage cover undergoing benchmark testing with the MG Hector Plus SUV which will be the brand’s prime competition in India. The MG Hector Plus was earlier available only in the 6-seater iteration with captain seats in the middle row but recently MG also announced a 7-seater version of the MG Hector Plus will be available in the Indian market January 2021.
Commonly vehicles are benchmarked in the initial stages with their competition but it is not surprising to see manufacturer benchmark vehicles with their competition even in the final stages of the launch. Apart from Pune in India and the United Kingdom, Tata also has their design studio in Turin Italy and hence it is not uncommon for the Tata SUV to be testing in Italy.
Recently a production-spec version of the Tata Gravitas was spotted inside Tata’s production plant in India which leads us to believe that the brand is waiting for the final validation of the SUV and the Gravitas 7-seater SUV will be launched in India in the coming months. The Tata Gravitas is underpinned by the OMEGA-ARC (Optimal Modular Efficient Global Advanced – Architecture) platform that underpins the Tata Harrier.
The Gravitas is expected to be powered by a BS6-compliant 2.0-litre Kryotec four-cylinder diesel engine making 170 PS of power and 350Nm of torque matched to a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic gearbox.
