Untitled Document |  |  | |  | | | With automakers on their way to revising their product portfolios with a completely new approach to value for money, Adil Jal Darukhanawala brings to light Tata Motors' upcoming contender in the MPV battlefield. It is raining MPVs out there you might think after seeing this artist's rendition of what is said to be the new people mover from Tata Motors. The advent of the Toyota Innova three years ago made this category but it is the launch of the Mahindra Xylo, the first genuine MPV challenger to take on the Innova in class means that car makers are in fact once again rewriting the book on the "more car per car" dictum. Yes just as emphatically in this large saloon class as the Tata Indica did the business in the small car segment a decade ago. To those in the know it is a well known fact that Tata Motors has never shied away from hinting at the segments it wants to be a player in. To the world at large it might seem an odd time to be thinking about new vehicle platforms and models given the present economic downturn but since this is a time intensive industry, many new vehicle lines have already been penciled in and development on all new car programmes are already well underway. The company has been working not just on the Indica Vista and its intended saloon sibling (due out later this year) as well as the Nano of course but there is a new Safari on the cards plus also an MPV. And the Pune-based car maker had already shown a concept MPV some years ago at the Geneva Motor Show in the form of the Tata Xover and now having seen actual spy pics of the Xover under testing in Europe, here are the first artist's impressions of how the new vehicle would unravel, by the end of this year. |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | The Xover concept styled by I.DE.A. Institute was based on an Indigo floorpan but the vehicle which we saw being tested in Europe seems to be much more fuller and production ready as our artist's impressions denote. The new Tata MPV might not be named the Xover but it seems a sure bet to join the Sumo Grande and the Safari in the Tata Motors' UV portfolio. The Xover seemed to hint at an all monocoque layout but the semi-monocoque layout employed by the Toyota Innova is what we feel the new Tata MPV would sport. Given the markets it would be operating in, using such a body-chassis construction backed up with very well sorted suspension underpinnings would help deliver the critical ride-handling combination. And not just the Innova but also the new Xylo have proved this line of thought and design. Also judging from the spy images and the computer renderings, we do think that the new platform makes do with a longer wheelbase so that it could swallow seven to eight homo sapiens with ease. Overall the styling as defined by Muntaser Mirkar's renderings indicate a vehicle very much in the Innova / Xylo mould and lest someone accuse Tata Motors of using them as the style muse, the vehicle would be distinctive in its accents rather than its overall design and style. A large grille spread-eagled between the large headlamps plus the deeply slatted air dam incorporated into a large wrap-around front bumper is deliberate by design. A sharply raked windscreen is also evident while in profile the vehicle seems to mirror the Xover though it seems to have put on a bit more muscle, in the process losing some of the slick taut litheness of the I.DE.A. Institute penned body. What is important however for Tata Motors is the fact that the new MPV is right now undergoing final ride-handling calibration in Europe with not just some of the top boffins at Jaguar Land Rover involved in some form or the other but also the company's technical centre in the UK which has been working at refining overall vehicle systems. Mahindra and Mahindra have gone on record to suggest that there would be a Xylo variant with four wheel drive and while this would seem to be overkill for an MPV in the Indian context, just think about the next generation Tata UVs with all wheel drive systems and ride and handling perfected by the Land Rover team! It is indeed a tasty thought but the fact remains that the new Tata MPV would be a rear wheel drive unit which would surely have benefited with inputs from Solihull. | | | | |  | | | | | The most important detail about MPVs these days is how flexible the seating is packaged inside the cabin and it is here that the Tata MPV could make its biggest impact. The Xover concept at Geneva had already shown how well the I.DE.A. engineers had crafted a most comfortable seven-seater but in its production version with competition having set a very high standard on the seating and space front, the Tata MPV would have to not just match or better prevailing standards but also to break established moulds which will make many consider it in the same breath as some of the better selling saloons in the land. Also from an ergonomic perspective one has to just look at the new Indica Vista to determine how much of a leap Tata Motors has made in significant hygiene areas such as driving position, steering column placement and adjustability, pedal positions, switchgear layout, etc and compare that to its UVs and SUVs of yore. I am sure the new Tata MPV would deliver a car-like feel and drive impression rather than the earlier agricultural layouts softened up in the garb of usability. The MPV segment has moved on massively and vehicles like the Innova and the Xylo plus the Xover (if that is the name which Tata Motors would stick with) are going to play a major role in bridging the gap between saloons and out and out SUVs. Drivetrains for the Tata MPV would be a mix of petrol and diesel propulsion with the 2.2-litre DICOR unit being tweaked for duty in this MPV with torque ruling the roost for effortless cruising. The company's 2092cc dohc 16-valve petrol engine which already does service in the Safari would also be an option, mostly for the export markets. And before we close this exclusive on a most important new vehicle from Tata Motors, there is a school of thought which suggests that this very vehicle could carry the Safari name tag! This is mere conjecture we think on the name front but that there is to be an all new modern MPV carrying the Tata badge is a certainty. Watch this space closely in the months to come. 
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