Heavily refreshed Tata Nexon snapped testing

A fully camouflaged Tata Nexon has been spied testing on Indian roads, suggesting that a major design update is in the works. The Nexon was last updated with a mid-life update in 2020, which means this will be the second major refresh on the compact SUV since its launch in 2017. The camouflaged test mule previews a heavily updated front and rear fascia along with some changes to the interior.

Exterior and interior updates

While the Nexon test mule seen in these spy shots doesn’t reveal much details, what’s clearly evident is that the front and rear fascia will be completely redesigned. The main headlamp cluster seems to have been repositioned on the front bumper – a design cue that has already been previewed on the Curvv SUV concepts. The redesigned front bumper gets a reworked central air intake and grille design, while the silhouette suggests that the Nexon could get a new connected LED light bar just above the grille as was seen on the Curvv concepts.

At the rear, the tailgate seems to have cleaner surfacing than the stepped design of the current model, and so does the rear bumper. The tail-lamps will likely mimic the front end design with a connected LED light bar and sleeker tail-lamp units. The overall silhouette of the Nexon remains relatively unchanged, and there will likely be a new design for the alloy wheels as well.

While the interior isn’t visible clearly in this sighting, we can expect a reworked dashboard design, highlight of which will be a new 10.25-inch touchscreen. Tata Motors previewed this new touchscreen at the Auto Expo 2023 and we know it will soon be rolled out across the carmaker’s line-up. This, along with a new digital instrument cluster could be among the major additions to the Nexon facelift’s equipment list.

Powertrain options

There are major changes expected under the hood as well, chief among which will be a new-gen 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine that Tata previewed with the Curvv ICE concept at the Auto Expo 2023. This engine produces 125hp and 225Nm – a fair upgrade over the Nexon’s current 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine that produces 120hp and 170Nm of torque. The 110hp, 1.5-litre diesel engine is expected to be carried forward as is. The Nexon is currently offered with manual and AMT gearboxes, but it remains to be seen if these change on the facelifted model with the new petrol motor.

Nexon facelift launch timeline and rivals

The market launch of the Nexon facelift is still sometime away, and is only expected sometime in 2024. The SUV will be priced at a premium over the current model, which is priced between Rs 780,000-14.30 lakh. When launched, it will continue to rival the likes of the Kia Sonet, Nissan Magnite, Renault Kiger, Hyundai Venue, Mahindra XUV300 and Maruti Brezza.

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