In an interview with The Statesman, Tata Motors' design head, Mr. Pratap Bose, said that the company has "many shapes and sizes (of cars) that will excite the market", while referring to Tata Motors' two-platform strategy for the future.
Going forward, Tata has announced that all products (private passenger vehicles) will be based on either of two architectures - Alfa or Omega. According to Bose, products ranging between 3.8-4.3 meters in length will be based on the Alfa (Agile Light Flexible Advanced Architecture), and the 4.4-4.8 meter segments will be handled by the Omega (Optimal Modular Efficient Global Advanced) platform. The Omega architecture will make it to the market first with the launch of the Tata Harrier SUV, in the last quarter of this financial year.
The first Alfa product will be the Tata X451 (codename), a premium hatchback to take on the Maruti Baleno and Hyundai Elite i20. Tata previewed the design earlier in the year by way of the Tata 45X concept (unveiled at the 2018 Auto Expo). Reports state that the X451 will launch in the fourth quarter of the next calendar year. It will be followed by a mid-size sedan based on the X451, that will rival the Honda City, Hyundai Verna and Maruti Ciaz. The market launch of the sedan is expected in early 2020, perhaps following an Auto Expo stage debut.
Aside from these known product actions, Tata will also work on moving the next generation Tiago, Tigor and Nexon to the Alfa platform. Future product codenames reported in the media are X-422, X-434, X-441, X-442 and X-452.
Also read: Tata Harrier spotted with 18-inch wheels & Bridgestone Dueler tires
Through its two-pronged platform strategy, the Tata Motors management has said that it will fill out product gaps and tap new white spaces in the coming years. Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, is quoted in the media stating that from a market coverage of 71% with the launch of the Harrier next year, new product launches would take it 95% coverage in 2020.
Judging by what is selling today, Tata would be calling for products in the small SUV (Renault Kwid or Maruti Ignis rival), MPV (Ertiga rival) and SUV (sub-Harrier Hyundai Creta rival) segments.
[Source - TheStatesman.com]
