Goodbyes are always difficult yet Tata Motors is making it a point to give their flagship 7-seater SUV, Hexa, a proper farewell. Or are they?
Tata Motors released a teaser which shows that the Hexa Safari Edition is going to be present at the Auto Expo 2020. The Hexa was the brand’s flagship model in the Indian portfolio until they launched the 5-seated Tata Harrier in January 2019. The demand for the Hexa thereafter observed a significant fall following the launch of the Harrier. Therefore, we all heard stories that the Hexa would go away with the BS4 emissions. Although, it was soon clarified by Tata Motors VP S. N. Barman via The Hindu Business Line that the Hexa, will be available post BS VI coming into play from 1st April 2020. This all happened back in July of 2019. Let’s see whats the status now!
The BS4 compliant Hexa will face the end of production before the BS6 emission norms get implemented in April 2020. The virtual successor of the model would have been the 7-seater version of the Harrier, Tata Gravitas. But, it will only be a successor if the Hexa goes out. The point is that the Hexa is a very aggressively priced car. It gets you a VERY decent 4×4 performance, a CHUNKY 400NM torque and all the features like cruise control, apple car-play, android auto, auto headlamps and wipers, etc. all at around 23 lakh INR. We DO NOT expect the Gravitas to be priced in this category. We believe the Gravitas will range in between 25-30 lakh INR and this creates a huge price gap. So, in other words, we think that the Hexa will stay. At least for now.
The Hexa will be Tata’s offering for the Mahindra XUV500 range until the Gravitas takes over from H1 of FY2021. Nevertheless, the Hexa Safari Edition will be powered by the same 2.2 litre Varicor 400 4-cylinder Diesel engine. The power from this engine is 154bhp along with a torque of 400Nm. The transmission comes in both automatic and manual (6-speed) variants, powering either the front or all of the four wheels.
Coming to the interior of the new Hexa, the changes will be limited as compared to the previous model. Given the name, it is clear that the changes made to the exterior will give the model a sporty and adventurous look. It’s not surprising that the look will be sporty given that it’s an upcoming trend. The internal components are not receiving any upgrades but the interiors will be tweaked slightly with certain additional features.
The Tata Hexa was initially launched in January 2017. This was considered to be an alternative to the Tata Safari. The model shares its platform with the discontinued Aria MPV, which was launched as a competition for the Toyota Innova. Since the competition was strong, Tata Motors did not achieve the expected success with either of the two models.
The price of the current Hexa starts at approximately ₹13 lakhs. The Hexa Safari Edition is expected to be launched at a hiked price.
