The compact SUV market in India just turned a lot more exciting as Tata Motors ups the ante with a new Nexon variant.
02 May 2018 | 13649 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Tata Motors, which is seeing strong sales of its first ever compact SUV, the Nexon, has now further upped the ante with automated manual transmission (AMT) versions priced at Rs 941,000 for the petrol and Rs 10.3 lakh for the diesel (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Launched in a single top-spec XZA+ ...
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Tata Motors, which is seeing strong sales of its first ever compact SUV, the Nexon, has now further upped the ante with automated manual transmission (AMT) versions priced at Rs 941,000 for the petrol and Rs 10.3 lakh for the diesel (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Launched in a single top-spec XZA+ trim, the Nexon's USP is offering a diesel-automatic combination in the compact SUV segment. Bookings for the model had already opened earlier for an amount of Rs 11,000.
The new XZA+ badge at the rear and the option of a new dual-tone, orange and silver exterior finish, are the only differentiators between the automatic versions and their manual counterparts.
The six-speed AMT on offer is paired to both the 110hp/170Nm, 1.5-litre, three-cylinder, turbo-petrol and the 110hp/260Nm, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel. The automatic gearbox gets a manual mode as well, which, when engaged, shifts the engine’s drive mode automatically to Sport. Tata’s Revotron and Revotorq series of engines feature multiple drive modes (Eco, City and Sport for the Nexon) as standard. Along with the manual mode, the AMT also sports hill-assist for ascends and descends, as well as a creep function to help in heavy traffic situations.
For now, the Nexon AMT is only available in a single top-spec trim and shares kit and technology with the manual XZ+ trims. Features such as projector headlamps with LED daytime running lights, front fog lamps, 16-inch alloy wheels shod in 215/60 tyres, 60:40 split folding rear seats, a Harman-sourced 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system that is Android Auto compatible and a wearable smart key are standard.
At this pricing, the Nexon AMT petrol undercuts the top-spec EcoSport Titanium+ AT (Rs 11.37 lakh) by a very significant Rs 196,000. However, Ford India also offers the petrol-automatic combination with the lower-spec Trend+ AT trim that’s priced at Rs 976,000, which is nearly on par in terms of price but misses out on some premium features. Compared to the manual top-spec trim, the AMT versions cost about Rs 40,000 more.
The diesel-automatic Nexon has no direct competitors. Neither the EcoSport diesel (Rs 9.16-11.04 lakh) nor the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza (Rs 8.62- 11.33 lakh) come with the option of an automatic, a key selling point for the Nexon diesel. The body-on-frame Mahindra NuvoSport and TUV300 do get the option of an AMT with their diesel engines.
Also read: Nexon contributes 53% to Tata Motors' UV sales in FY2018
India Auto Inc off to a good start in FY2019 but rising fuel prices a concern