Tata Motors plans to launch at least one SUV in every segment and here is how the brand plans to do it with its upcoming products. Tata Motors’ HBX was first seen at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2019 in the form of the H2X concept and the brand unveiled the HBX a year later at the 15th edition of the Auto Expo 2020 in India. It is the brand’s first subcompact SUV and the brand promises that the HBX concept that debuted at the Auto Expo 2020 is nearly 90% of what will go into the actual production model.
The HBX will be underpinned by the ALFA-ARC (Agile Light Flexible Advanced – Architecture) platform which debuted with the brand’s premium hatchback that was launched last year, the Tata Altroz. The HBX will become the brand’s second car to be built around the ALFA-ARC platform and will be positioned below the Tata Nexon SUV which now also has a fully-electric powertrain.
In terms of its styling, the Tata HBX comes in-line with the brand’s Impact 2.0 design philosophy and sports a muscular front end with a silver finished skid plate, bumper integrated headlamp units, a black minimalistic grille, sleek LED daytime running lights, flared wheel arches, raised bonnet lines, floating roof design, wrap-around tail lights, tailgate integrated spoiler and a silver-finished skid plate on the rear bumper that reverberates the front.
Another upcoming Tata model is the Gravitas SUV which too was unveiled at the Auto Expo 2020 and is the brand’s second car to be built around the OMEGA-ARC (Optimal Modular Efficient Global Advanced – Architecture) platform. The OMEGA-ARC platform debuted for the first time on the brand’s popular Harrier mid-size SUV and is positioned above the Nexon. The Gravitas is a 7-seater iteration of the Harrier SUV but gets its own unique styling as seen on the model revealed at the Auto Expo 2020. Both the Harrier and the Gravitas share the powertrain and mechanical hardware but the Gravitas is taller and longer than the former to accommodate the extra row of seats and thus positions itself in the large SUV segment.
The brand is expected to launch the HBX in the next financial year closely followed by the launch of the Gravitas SUV. With the launch of the HBX and the Gravitas, Tata Motors will have at least one SUV is every segment to lock horns with the competition. The HBX in the Sub-Compact SUV segment, the Nexon in the Compact SUV segment, the Harrier in the Mid-Size SUV segment and the Gravitas and Hexa in the Large SUV segment.
