In December 2018, Tata Motors announced that the Nexon's NCAP safety rating (adult protection) has improved from 4-star to a full 5-star. The upgraded score was courtesy of additional safety features, which helped the sub-4-metre SUV fare better in the globally-recognised crash tests. The Tata Nexon is India's first car to bag a 5-star NCAP rating, and this seems to have boosted its popularity.
Sales figure show an improvement of almost 16 per cent in January 2019 on a month-on-month basis. As compared to the 4,393 units sold in December 2018, the company could manage to record a dealer dispatch of 5,095 units in the first month of the current calendar year. In February 2019, the manufacturer sold 5,263 units of its Maruti Vitara Brezza-rival, thereby posting a sales increment of almost 20 per cent over December 2018. It is likely that the Nexon's high safety rating has played a significant role in popularising the compact SUV.
The Tata Nexon was launched in September 2017 and got off to a decent start. By early October, the waiting period for the Maruti Vitara Brezza-rival had soared to 2 months across all trims and variants. In August 2018, the Tata Nexon became one of the first models to be tested by Global NCAP under its Safer Cars For India Campaign. It bagged an impressive 4-star rating in the global NCAP crash tests. Following this, the manufacturer added a handful of safety features to its sub-4-metre SUV, which included standardising the Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) for both driver and front passenger. Even a structural change was made to increase the front passenger's knee protection level. The improvements helped the Nexon bag a full 5-star rating.
The Tata Nexon has been available with two engine options - 1.2-litre, three-cylinder, turbo-petrol that produces 110 bhp and 170 Nm, and a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel that offers 110 bhp and 260 Nm. Both the engines come mated to a T6300 6-speed manual transmission as standard and a 6-speed AMT as optional.
The Tata Nexon is currently on sale in a price bracket of INR 6.36-10.80 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi).
