As per a new report by Autocar India, Pratap Bose, Head of Design at Tata Motors has expressed his desire to work on new iterations of the Tata Sierra and Sumo. That said, Bose has expressed doubts on the relevance of the two products in the future market scenario.
Commenting on the possibility of the rebirth of the Tata Sierra, Pratap Bose said -
A lot of people want to see the Sierra back. I don't know if that would work or not, in some form, but I think a new Sierra would be a very cool car to do, actually.
The Tata Sierra was first launched in 1991. Back then, it was the first of its kind three-door SUV that had huge non-openable rear windows. It shared the platform with the Telcoline pick-up and was powered by the Peugeot XD88 2.0-litre diesel engine. In April 1998, Tata Motors launched a turbocharged version, the engine which went on to power the first generation of the Tata Safari. While the Sierra never sold in high numbers, it continues to enjoy a decent fan-following from aficionados mainly for its looks.
Other than a reincarnated Tata Sierra, Bose would also like to have a new iteration of the Sumo, the original people's mover from the famous UV manufacturer. Speaking his mind on the next generation of the Sumo, Bose said -
I would also love to do a modern-day Sumo, a future Sumo. A very honest product, we don't have anything else like it in our portfolio. 20-30 years back, where that use case was, it may not be there anymore. The Sumo did a stunning job back in its time. It was a real people-mover. Today, I don't think it would fit into that same environment. Society, expectations, everything has changed. So in spirit yes, a new Sumo would have to be a people-mover, but one would have to express it in a very different way.
The Tata Sumo was launched in 1994 as a utilitarian MUV designed primarily for rugged usage. The Tata Sumo was an instant hit, and over 1,00,000 copies were made by 1997. The Tata Sumo was named after Sumant Moolgaokar, a former MD of Tata's vehicle business. It shared its ladder-frame chassis and the Peugeot XD88 2.0-litre diesel engine with the Tata Telcoline. The second generation Sumo came in 2008, branded the Tata Sumo Grande, which in 2011 was badged as the Tata Grande, and that not having worked to improve sales, was transferred to the fleet line as the Tata Movus, which was also later discontinued.
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At the moment, Tata Motors is working on a range of new-age vehicles, which will be based on the new Omega (Optimal Modular Efficient Global Advanced) and Alfa (Agile Light Flexible Advanced Architecture) platforms. Its new model onslaught will commence with the launch of the Tata Harrier in January 2019 followed by the Tata Aquilla in the second half of 2019.
[Source- autocarindia.com]
