Tata Motors launches new Hexa crossover at Rs 11.99 lakh

Tata Motors today launched the Hexa crossover at an introductory pricing of Rs 11.99 lakh with the top-end variant priced at Rs 17.49 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

Bookings for the Hexa opened some time ago with the down-payment set at Rs 11,000, regardless of the variant selected. Deliveries of the crossover are set to commence by the end of the month with an 8-week waiting period at present.

Tata Motors's extensive pre-launch marketing for the Hexa in the form of Hexa Experience Centres over the past fortnight seem to have paid off, considering Tata Motors has ample bookings in hand even before the vehicle's aggressive pricing was revealed today. 

Mayank Pareek, president – Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, said, “Ever since its first showcase as a concept, the Hexa has generated a great amount of curiosity and excitement and customers are sure to find value and prestige that goes beyond their expectations. With the Hexa, we have taken a leap in bringing in the most advanced technologies and first-of-its-kind features, crafted with precision, representing the change that is underway at Tata Motors. We are confident that this complete package will be an instant hit in a highly popular but immensely competitive segment.”

According to Dr Tim Leverton, president and head, Advanced & Product Engineering, Tata Motors, the Hexa was developed over two years with the company's design studios in the United Kingdom, Italy and India collaborating on the project. The Hexa project, which has received vehicle integration inputs from Jaguar Land Rover, had a 150-strong team of engineers working on it. Prior to its launch, the Hexa has undergone over 1.7 million kilometres of various tests across varying terrain and climate conditions.     

Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD of Tata Motors, commented: “The Hexa is future-ready. It is the flagship of our transformation journey and it is a milestone product for us. The launch of the Hexa addresses a larger part of the passenger vehicle market in India. With the recent changes witnessed in the passenger vehicle segment, the timing was ripe for Tata Motors to make an impact in the UV category. The Hexa comes with a very bold statement, ‘Whatever it takes’ which also connects well with our transformation journey. The road to reposition us goes beyond products and involves pursuing new approaches, technologies, business models and partnerships in order to actively design the future of mobility across the country.”

Three variants on offer

The Tata Hexa has three variants on offer. The base XE comes with a 2.2-litre Varicor diesel engine which develops 150hp and 320Nm of torque. This powerplant is mated to a five-speed manual transmission. The next two trims, XM and XT, come with a slightly more powerful 2.2-litre 156hp 400Nm Varicor400 diesel engine. This engine gets six-speed manual as well as automatic gearboxes. 

The Hexa equipped with the six-speed manual gearbox comes with four drive modes – Auto, Comfort, Dynamic and Rough Road. Under Auto, the car's systems automatically adapt to the road conditions with control systems coming into action when needed. In Comfort, the car is ideal for cruising long distances. In Dynamic, the main focus is on outright performance. The Rough Road mode tunes the car’s systems to tackle off-road driving conditions with retuned brake performance and allows for the brakes to lock up, thus improving control.

The Tata Hexa is available with a seven-seat layout as well as a unique six-seat configuration. It gets a rugged body cladding and massive 19-inch wheels with low-profile, 235-section tyres to keep it from looking like an MPV.

On the safety front, the Tata Hexa is well equipped with dual front airbags and ABS as standard on all trims. The Hexa XT gets six airbags, traction control and ESP.

The Tata Hexa also comes in five paint shades. Additional features include cruise control, 19-inch alloy wheels, automatic climate control, ConnectNext infotainment system with a touchscreen, along with 10-speaker JBL sound system and an eight-way adjustable driver’s seat.

The Hexa’s starting price is about Rs 48,000 cheaper than the Mahindra XUV500 W4 and around Rs 2.23 lakh less than the Toyota Innova Crysta GX diesel. The top-spec Tata Hexa XT 4x4 is set to retail at Rs 17.49 lakh, in comparison to the XUV500 W10 AWD AT priced at Rs 18.03 lakh and the Innova ZX AT which costs Rs 21.19 lakh.

Should I buy one? 

As regards the purchase decision, Autocar India, sister magazine of Autocar Professional, has this to say: "Yes, there are a few rough edges and the engineering finesse falls short of the best global standards, but as a standalone product in our market, the Hexa is hugely impressive. Attractive on the outside, well appointed on the inside and feature-loaded, the Hexa strikes a chord at many levels. The big Tata is a supremely comfortable family car and the lavish use of high-grade materials delivers a sense of luxury that would certainly appeal to premium car buyers. We’d give the manual gearbox version a pass and go for the auto instead. It’s not got the 4x4 hardware but as an everyday vehicle it’s easily the better pick.

"The Hexa has been priced starting at Rs 11.99 lakh for the base diesel, and it goes all the way up to Rs 17.49 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the top-of-the-line four-wheel drive variant, which is expensive as Tatas go, but when you see what the money gets you, you won’t be disappointed. The pricing also makes it cheaper than an equivalent Mahindra XUV500, one of the Hexa's main rivals. Tata Motors has added all it can into the Hexa and it's genuinely worth buying."

Recommended:

- Tata Motors plans virtual reality showrooms for passenger vehicles

- Interview with Girish Wagh, SVP, on the Tata Hexa

UV sales in India to cross 1 million units annually by 2020: IHS Markit Automotive 

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